Major research efforts are concerned with studies in a number of biomedically-relevant fields including: regulation of expression and mechanisms of detoxification by cytochrome P450 enzymes; oxygenase and arachidonic acid biochemistry; cancer drug development; biophysics of the cytoskeleton; proteinase inhibitor structure and regulation; lipid-based signaling; nucleic acid structure and interactions with carcinogens; DNA-binding proteins; mass spectrometric tissue imaging, proteomics, DNA topoisomerase; biochemistry and endocrinology of hypertension; human genetics; intracellular signaling in growth and development; molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease; RNA-binding proteins; post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression; ion channels; neoplastic transformation by oncogenic transcription factors; cellular responses to DNA damage; bacterial toxins; innate immune mechanisms; host-pathogen interactions; chromatin structure and histone modifications; epigenetics and gene regulation; membrane protein-linked disease mechanisms, genome surveillance, nuclear RNA transport; DNA replication termination, replication, and transcriptional conflicts; force transduction involving the nuclear membrane; calcium-binding proteins; and one-carbon metabolism. These studies use state-of-the-art technology including molecular biology and high-throughput sequencing, mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy, and X-ray crystallography.
Faculty of the department also participate in interdisciplinary training programs, supported by National Institutes of Health training grants, that offer specialized biochemical training in the areas of molecular toxicology, chemical biology, biochemical nutrition, molecular biophysics, infectious disease, cancer research, and molecular endocrinology.
