Chemical Biology

Multidisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry and biology is a major activity in the department. Increasing numbers of our students graduating with chemistry Ph.D. degrees are finding employment in positions that require familiarity with the language and techniques of biology and experience in applying chemical approaches to the solution of biological research problems. The department has a strong predoctoral training program that meets this need with graduate courses and research laboratories in many areas of bioorganic, biophysical and bioinorganic chemistry. This research and training program at the chemistry-biology interface is enhanced by our proximity to and strong interactions with the many research scientists, seminar programs and extensive research facilities of the UCLA Medical Center and the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute.

research2-1.jpg (37057 bytes)

A glycodendrimer incorporating 36 alpha-D-mannopyranose residues on
its periphery. This exotic material was synthesized in the Stoddart laboratory.
research2-2.jpg (4629 bytes)Exotic Materials

The university has established an Exotic Materials Institute to foster interdisciplinary interaction among groups of synthetic chemists, experimental and theoretical physical scientists and engineers. The objective is to design and synthesize condensed-matter materials directed toward desired physical properties; e.g., superconductors, metals, semiconductors, semiconductor devices, ferromagnets, ceramics, liquid crystals, etc. We utilize the versatility of synthetic chemistry to create novel materials, having selected structural features with the eventual goal of using these materials in technology. It is through these kinds of novel materials that new concepts and phenomena are uncovered.

[back] [forward]