Biomedical Chemistry

Chemistry with potential for advancing medical technology and the understanding of disease at the molecular level

Exploring pathological mineralization and crystallization in kidney stone formation. The Ward laboratory explores the mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of kidney stones. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the role of urinary macromolecules on crystallization of calcium oxalate and cystine, two common ingredients in kidney stones, can be examined in real time under conditions simulating the renal environment. AFM also permits direct measurement of adhesion at different crystal surfaces under these conditions, providing insight into the microscopic events responsible for aggregation of single crystals into stones. For example, osteopontin, a protein known to regulate calcium oxalate stone formation, increases adhesion between calcium oxalate crystal surfaces and carboxylate groups on an AFM tip, suggesting an adhesive role for this protein in stone formation.

Biomedical Chemistry Faculty

	Paramjit S Arora Design and synthesis of peptidomimetics; inhibitors of protein-protein interactions; small molecular ligands for nucleic acids; artificial control of gene expression.
	James Canary Design and synthesis of agents for biomedical molecular imaging, fluorescent probes for metal ions relevant to neurobiology, cancer imaging and chemotherapy.
	John Spencer Evans Biomimetic or "Nature"-based materials, macromolecule-interfacial interactions, biomineralization, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, protein structure determination, mass spectrometry, computational chemistry.
	Nicholas E. Geacintov DNA lesions in cancer; mechanisms of DNA modification; structure and properties of damaged DNA
	Alexej Jerschow NMR/MRI methods in tissues. MRI markers for osteoarthritis, intervertebral discs, and brain tumors. Contrast agents based on enhanced relaxation and chemical exchange. Molecular imaging.
	Neville R. Kallenbach Protein structure function and folding, antimicrobial agents based on peptides of the innate immune system, model helix and beta-sheet structures; biophysical chemistry of proteins and nucleic acids
	Kent Kirshenbaum Design and synthesis of peptidomimetics; multivalent display; macromolecular design; biomimetic chemistry
	Tamar Schlick Molecular mechanics and dynamics, computational and structural biology, DNA supercoiling, RNA structure and genomics, and DNA/protein interactions. Biomolecular Modeling.
	Nadrian C. Seeman DNA Nanotechnology, Macromolecular Design and Topology, Biophysical Chemistry of Recombinational Intermediates, DNA-Based Computation and Crystallography
	Michael D Ward Materials and solid-state chemistry, microscopic origins of pathological biomineralization and crystals in disease
	Marcus Weck Polymeric scaffolds for tissue engineering, drug delivery and imaging
	Yingkai Zhang Theoretical chemistry and computational enzymology; ab initio QM/MM and multiscale simulation methods; histone modifications and recognition; and membrane enzymes.

Back to Top