Research

BMBCB is an exciting research and training environment characterized by:

  • top-notch research performed by outstanding faculty, staff and students,
  • an extensive schedule of seminars by both NU and outside faculty,
  • collaborative research centers that have programs centered on a research field,
  • integrated teaching and mentoring of both undergraduate and graduate students,
  • state-of-the art research facilities that support BMBCB’s laboratories,
  • excellent departmental staff to assist in all aspects research administration,
and internal and external support for research funding. 

Faculty research within BMBCB is at the forefront of several fields and is supported by over $15 million in sponsored funds. Research within BMBCB falls into several categories:

  • biochemistry
  • cell and molecular biology
  • structural biology
  • biophysics
  • hormone action and signal transduction
  • genetics and developmental biology

Faculty within BMBCB are consistently recognized for their outstanding research programs.  Jon Widom’s group recently discovered that over 50% of the nucleosomes within genomes are positioned in an arbitrary way, with this nucleosome positioning code potentially regulating transcription factor binding, transcription initiation and even the remodelling of the nucleosomes themselves.  The article can be found on Jon Widom's site.

Our newest recruit, Jason Brickner, is busy studying the impact of physical location of chromosomes within the nucleus on the regulation of gene transcription.  His lab’s findings, which were published recently in Plos Biology, have also led to the awarding of a NIH R01 to cover his research program.