Many exciting research problems in science today lie at the interfaces between disciplines. The interface between chemistry and biology is particularly rich, and research groups in all four divisions in the Chemistry Department at UW-Madison have substantial efforts that interweave ideas from chemistry and biology to solve important problems. Our faculty is helping to define this evolving approach to science, and accordingly, UW-Madison is one of the strongest centers for research at the chemistry-biology interface in the world.

Chemistry-biology interfacial research at UW-Madison is exceptionally broad in scope, extending from the design and synthesis of organic compounds that bind and modulate the function of specific proteins, to the spectroscopic study of metalloprotein structure, to the construction and use of high density DNA arrays for data storage and retrieval, to the development of new polymeric vehicles for drug delivery. In general, research groups are either synthesizing compounds and materials with novel biological activity, developing new experimental and spectroscopic techniques to characterize biomolecules and biological phenomena, or combining both of these approaches in their laboratories. As this type of research is inherently collaborative, many faculty have joint projects with other members of the Chemistry Department and with researchers in other departments on the UW-Madison campus. In our interactive environment, sharing specialized equipment and facilities, and continually exploring new research opportunities across campus is standard practice for both faculty and students.

Active research areas include:
• Combinatorial library synthesis and screening
• Elucidation of protein-, nucleic acid-, carbohydrate-, and small moleculeprotein interactions with biophysical and chemical tools" Design and synthesis of protein and receptor mimics
• Natural product biosynthesis and metabolic pathway engineering
• Spectroscopic study of biomolecular structure, including but not limited to NMR, IR, resonance Raman, EPR,and mass spectrometry techniques
• Chemical approaches to signal transduction
• Design of new polymers with well defined folding properties ("foldamers")
• Multi- and monolayer assembly of biomolecules at surfaces
• Chemical glycobiology
• New polymeric materials for gene and drug delivery
• Enzyme mechanism and synthesis of enzyme inhibitors
• Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses
• Integration of biological molecules with novel materials for nanoscale chemical sensing and bio-electronic integration
• Computational approaches to protein structure and function
• Whole genome "shotgun" optical mapping
• Spectroscopic analysis of in vitro and in vivo protein folding by multidimensional NMR
• Development of new chemical and instrumental approaches to biological mass spectrometry at the single cell level
• In vivo fluorescence and single molecule dynamics

The interdisciplinary research projects listed above are supported by the outstanding facilities at UW-Madison. High field NMR spectrometers (600 and 500 MHz) equipped with sophisticated triple resonance and magic angle spinning probes are housed in the Chemistry Department. Along with the other excellent instrumentation located within the Department, the recent addition of the Keck Center for Chemical Genomics to the UW campus provides additional stateof- the-art instrumentation that will fuel research at the chemistry-biology interface for years to come. The Keck Center, which has a facility located in the Chemistry Department, serves to integrate chemical synthesis and surface science for the investigation of biological systems. The Center includes equipment for high throughput screening (liquid handling robotics, plate readers, etc), for the automated chemical synthesis of small molecule libraries, and for the fabrication and characterization of surfaces (atomic force microscopy, surface plasmon resonance etc). Additionally, UW-Madison is home to a National Magnetic Resonance Facility (NMRFAM), which houses 900, 800, 750, 600 (3), 500 (2), and 400 MHz NMR spectrometers, along with the BioMag-ResBank (BMRB), which is the worldwide repository for data from NMR spectroscopy on proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids. Finally, open access to state-of-the-art facilities at the Biophysics Instrumentation Facility (located nearby in the Biochemistry Department), the Biotechnology Center, and School of Pharmacy, coupled with exceptional campus- wide bioinformatics and computational capabilities, creates a world class environment to engage in research at the chemistry-biology interface.

Graduate students pursuing research at the chemistry-biology interface at UW-Madison typically fulfill the requirements of one of the four traditional divisions and use the distributed minor option for more specialized coursework appropriate to their own research. Weekly seminars and semester-long graduate-level courses in the areas of chemical biology, bioorganic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, and biophysical chemistry are currently offered and can be used to fulfill the minor requirement. Qualified students can be nominated prior to or during their first year for prestigious graduate fellowships supported by the NIH that include interdepartmental training in the Chemistry- Biology Interface, Biotechnology, Molecular Biophysics, and Bioinformatics. These programs provide unparalleled interdisciplinary training opportunities for students and encourage participation in seminar courses and off-campus summer internships. There is a large biological community at UW-Madison outside of the Chemistry Department that is actively involved in these training grant programs, including faculty from Biochemistry, Bacteriology, and Chemical Engineering along with the Medical School and School of Pharmacy. Students who are accepted into the Chemistry graduate program can join any of these laboratories but must be co-advised by a faculty member with an appointment in the Chemistry Department.

Further information on these training grant programs and the faculty currently involved can be found at the following websites:
Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program
Biotechnology Training Program

Chemistry Department faculty with biological interests are conducting research in diverse areas, some of which are represented in the broad classifications below: