The Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology has 20 primary faculty, 4 administrative staff and over 100 students, postdoctoral fellows and scientists. Departmental members seek to understand the molecular basis of health and disease by focusing on a broad range of topics in basic biology, biochemistry and biophysics. Specific areas of interest include protein structural biology, genome biology, and mechanobiology. The Department houses several core facilities allowing for the application of the latest technologies to ongoing research projects. This includes the Next Generation Sequencing Core, Mass Spectrometry Facility, SCSB X-Ray Crystallography Laboratory and Cryo-electron Microscopy Facility all led by Research Faculty in the Department. The Department also benefits from a close relationship with the Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics.
The BMB Department is also home to the Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, which includes the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Track and the Structural Biology and Biophysics Track. The Program is designed to prepare students for careers investigating the molecular nature of biomedical phenomena and translating that knowledge to improve human health. Our curriculum provides training in cutting edge technology, critical thinking, and verbal and written communication skills, preparing graduates to be fully competitive for positions in various career paths.
Meet the Faculty
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Li-av Segev Zarko , PhD
Cryo-ET of Toxoplasma gondii -
Mark White , PhD
Structure of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13 -
Michelle Ward , PhD
Human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes -
Krishna Rajarathnam , PhD
Chemokine-neutrophil axis and infection -
Petr Leiman , PhD
Phage structure & function -
Junji Iwahara, PhD
NMR biophysical chemistry -
Yunfeng Chen, PhD
Biomembrane force probe -
Werner Braun, PhD
3D mosaic protein
VEEV (pink) with epitope (blue)
CHIKV (green) with epitope (red) -
Matthieu Gagnon, PhD
Regulation of protein biosynthesis -
Thomas Smith, PhDM
Norovirus shape shifting: in circulation (left), in the gut (right) -
Guy Nir, PhDM
Single-genome structure & function
- Vice President Drug Discovery,Director Sealy Institute Drug Discovery and Chair ad-interim
- 108 Basic Science Building
- 301 University Boulevard Galveston, TX 77555-0645 USA
- P (409) 772-2271
- Email: sasever@utmb.edu
- Sr. Administrative Manager
- 108 Basic Science Building
- 301 University Boulevard
- Galveston, TX 77555-0645 USA
- Email:sapope@utmb.edu
- Dr. Petr Leiman, PhD
Director, Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program - University of Texas Medical Branch
- P (409) 747-2078
- Email: pgleiman@utmb.edu
- Program Coordinator: Taylor Groves
Areas of Research
The BMB Department conducts research in a broad range of topics focused on understanding the molecular basis of health and disease. Research spans from DNA to RNA to proteins to cells and their interactions with the environment. Topics are addressed through a variety of genetic, molecular, structural, cellular, and computational biology approaches and include:
