Faculty Research

Our graduate program in chemistry at Ohio State leads the country in education and research because of our vast resources, cutting-edge facilities, and outstanding faculty. Consequently, we are consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation by the National Research Council and others.

Our faculty members include a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Ohio Eminent Scholars, Sloan Fellows, Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar awardees, and fellows of the American Physical Society, the American Ceramic Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Several faculty hold major national awards from the American Chemical Society and have distinguished themselves numerous times with research.

About Chemistry Research

Graduate courses and research programs leading to the MS and PhD degrees in chemistry are offered in analytical, biological, inorganic, organic, physical and theoretical chemistry. These programs include photochemistry, stereochemistry, electrochemistry, kinetics (including nanosecond and crossed-molecular beam studies), theoretical structure and dynamics, statistical mechanics, organic synthesis, inorganic synthesis, carbohydrate chemistry, NMR, ESR, laser and vacuum UV spectroscopy, pulse radiolysis, X-ray structures, multi-enzyme complexes, catalysis, mechanisms of action of enzymes and coenzymes, molecular biology, biomembrane studies, surface chemistry and separations.

The first year is devoted mainly to advanced coursework with the opportunity to begin research in the latter part of the year. During the second and subsequent years, the major emphasis is given to research for both MS and PhD students. PhD students begin their examinations for admission to PhD candidacy in their second year. These examinations include both written and oral portions; they are designed to verify the student's competence as an independent scientist.

All MS and PhD research is carried out under the direct supervision of a faculty adviser who serves as the student's preceptor. Many research groups are enriched by the presence of postdoctoral researchers and visiting professors. Graduates are employed by industrial and government laboratories and as research and teaching staff members at colleges and universities across the United States.

About Biochemistry Research

The faculty in the Department of Biochemistry maintain strong research programs and have access to excellent support facilities and stimulating interactions with campus-wide research focus groups. Research activities are focused primarily on the study of the structure and function of the major biopolymers. Our faculty members are leaders in basic research in several dynamic areas of modern biochemistry with their primary focus on macromolecular structure and function of the major biopolymers -- proteins, DNA, RNA, and oligosaccahrides.

Our faculty participate in a variety of Ph.D.-level graduate programs and provide excellent opportunities for training to be an independent research scientist in any of the above general areas. Several options for obtaining research training leading to a Master's degree in basic or biotechnology-related research are also available.

Undergraduate biochemistry majors are also encouraged to undertake independent research projects and experience the excitment of participating in the acquisition of new knowledge. Please refer to the links on this page and elsewhere to obtain further information.ther information.

Biochemistry Research Information

Research Focus Groups

Research Opportunities:

Related Graduate Programs:

Calendars

Research Information

Faculty Research Interests

This faculty member can mentor Chemistry graduate students. Indicates this faculty member is eligible to mentor students in the Chemistry graduate program. Other faculty members listed on this page may co-advise Chemistry graduate students who are collaborating with one of the primary appointees.

Please see the faculty research table for a sortable list.
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Analytical, Biochemistry, Chemical Physics, Environmental
Research Summmary: Interfacial processes of aqueous surfaces, heterogeneous atmospheric and environmental/geochemistry, lung surfactant, biomembranes, cancer margin detection
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic
Research Summmary: Supramolecular Chemistry, Encapsulation, Organic Synthesis, Catalysis and Dynamic Materials
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry, Materials, Organic
Research Summmary: Multi-disciplinary chemistry, Solid and solution phase organic synthesis, Biomolecular recognition in water, Non-covalent chemistry and self-assembly, Membrane chemistry and physics, Nanoscale ordering, surface patterning, biomaterials, protein folding
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Director, Center for Life Sciences Education
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Inorganic, Materials
Research Summmary: Molecular and Materials Chemistry, Metal-Metal Multiple Bonds, Organometallic Chemistry
This faculty member can mentor Chemistry graduate students.  Anne Co
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Analytical, Materials
Research Summmary: Advanced Electrocatalytic Materials for Chemical Conversion and Energy Storage
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Materials, Chemical Physics, Environmental
Research Summmary: Infrared Plasmonics for Sensing and Enhanced IR Absorption Spectroscopy using Metallic Arrays of Subwavelength Holes: Spectra of Single 1-5 Micron Particles; Material Properties as a Function of Size
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry, Inorganic
Research Summmary: Bioinorganic Chemistry, Biophysical Chemistry and Structural and Mechanistic Biology
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Membrane Protein Assembly, Proteases, Biophysics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Analytical, Materials, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Analytical Spectroscopy, Materials Science
Primary Appointment: Physics
Divisions: Materials, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Conducting, Semiconducting and Magnetic Polymers, and Molecule-based Materials
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic, Biochemistry, Environmental
Research Summmary: Synthetic Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Protein and nucleic acid structure and dynamics; molecular recognition; gene regulation; enzyme catalysis; NMR spectroscopy; molecular biophysics; thermodynamics; kinetics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Inorganic, Materials
Research Summmary: Dimensionally-Reduced Material Allotropes; Material design for energy conversion and medicine
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Structure and mechanism of action of ribonuclease P, a catalytic ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex.
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Materials, Chemical Physics, Analytical
Research Summmary: Physical Chemistry, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Imaging, Nano-Structured and Non-Crystalline Solids, Energy Storage Materials
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Analytical, Materials, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Analytical Spectroscopy, Optical Characterization of Electronic Materials, Biophysics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic, Theoretical, Biochemistry, Chemical Physics, Environmental
Research Summmary: Reactive Intermediates, Computational Chemistry, Organophosphorus Chemistry, Biological Chemistry, Photochemistry, Reactive Oxygen Species
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Theoretical, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Electronic structure theory and molecular quantum mechanics
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Gene switch operation; GAL gene switch proteins
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Mechanism, biological function and RNA-protein recognition by 3'-5' polymerases and tRNA methyltransferases, Enzyme kinetics, RNA biochemistry, yeast and D. discoideum genetics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Analytical, Biochemistry, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Biophysical chemistry; NMR spectroscopy; Protein structure, folding and misfolding; solid-state NMR; amyloids
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Actin is a major component of the cytoskeleton and one of the most conserved, abundant, and functionally versatile proteins on our planet.
Primary Appointment: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Divisions: Physical, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Optical Spectroscopy, Plasma and Flow Diagnostics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic, Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Combinatorial and statistical approaches to protein stability, structure and function; protein interactions; protein folding; unnatural amino acids; paraoxonase-1
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic
Research Summmary: Synthetic Methods, Organic Catalysis, Natural Product Synthesis
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Theoretical, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Theoretical Chemistry, Spectroscopy, Chemistry in Clusters
Primary Appointment: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Divisions: Organic
Research Summmary:
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Theoretical, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Molecular Spectroscopy, Chemical Intermediates, Laser Diagnostics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Substrate Recognition by Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases, RNA-Protein Interactions in HIV
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Analytical, Environmental
Research Summmary: Analytical, Separation Science, Mass Spectrometry
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: synthetic protein chemistry; expressed protein ligation; solid phase chemical ligation; histone post-translational modification; nucleosome structure and dynamics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic, Materials
Research Summmary: Catalysis, Materials, Supramolecular, Self-Assembly, Nanotechnology
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic, Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Enzyme Mechanism, Design and Synthesis of Enzyme Inhibitors
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic
Research Summmary: Enantioselective Catalysis, Free Radical Chemistry, Carbohydrate Chemistry
Primary Appointment: Chemistry and Biochemistry
Divisions:
Research Summmary:
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Inorganic
Research Summmary: Lanthanide and Transition Metal Clusters and Extended Arrays, Metallocene Complexes that Relate to Catalytic Systems, Boron Nitride Nanotubes and Nanoparticles
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Physical, Theoretical, Materials, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Statistical mechanical studies of phase transitions in ice, nanofluidics and electrokinetic phenomena, and the silica-water interface
Primary Appointment:
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Stretching and Sorting Life: Structural Determinants of Mechanosensation and Cellular Adhesion Mechanotransduction / Cellular Adhesion / Structural Biology / Molecular Dynamics Simulations / Protein Biochemistry and Biophysics
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Organic
Research Summmary: Metal-catalyzed Reactions, Carbon-Carbon and Carbon-Heteroatom Bonds, Reaction Principles
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry, Organic, Physical, Chemical Physics
Research Summmary: Kinetic mechanisms of polymerases involved in DNA/RNA replication, DNA damage repair, and DNA lesion bypass; Hepatitis C (HCV) replication and regulation of innate immunity; antiviral and anti-cancer drug discovery.
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Regulation of flavin cofactor redox chemistry; cofactor/protein interactions; macromolecular structure/function; protein engineering
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Inorganic, Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Inorganic Photochemistry, Excited State Processes in Inorganic Complexes, DNA Binding and Interactions
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Inorganic, Materials
Research Summmary: Solid State Chemistry
Primary Appointment: Chemistry
Divisions: Inorganic, Materials
Research Summmary: Inorganic, Material Chemistry
Primary Appointment: Biochemistry
Divisions: Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Protein aggregation and polymerization of gamma-S-crystallin; mechanism of RCL nucleotide hydrolases; interactions the Gfi-1 transcription factor; NMR spectroscopy
Primary Appointment: Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Divisions: Physical, Environmental
Research Summmary: Aerosols: Formation, structure, and further transitions
Primary Appointment:
Divisions: Analytical, Biochemistry
Research Summmary: N/A
Primary Appointment: Physics
Divisions: Physical, Theoretical, Chemical Physics, Biochemistry
Research Summmary: Femtobiology, Biomolecular Interactions, Protein Dynamics