The research in the department is supported on grants from government agencies (NIH, NSF, DOE, DOD), private foundations (ACS PRF, Sloan, Dreyfus), and corporations (Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Bristol Meyer Squibb, 3M). Research within the Department is recognized by many honors and awards for the faculty and their research groups and spans the breadth of chemistry. Many faculty members are involved in collaborative research with other departments and programs, and,indeed, one of the hallmarks of research at Boston University is the opportunity to engage in multidisciplinary research.
Research Areas
Bioanalytical Chemistry
Although most chemists use analytical chemical methods in their work,
the research of some faculty focuses on the development of methods
for the analysis of biological activity and detection of biological
molecules. Sean Elliott, Rosina Georgiadis, Guilford
Jones, Richard Laursen.
Biological Chemistry
Biochemical research in the Chemistry Department is focused primarily
on protein structure, peptide chemistry and biomodel systems, and bioinorganic
chemistry. John Caradonna, Sean Elliott, Guilford Jones, Richard Laursen,
Pinghua Liu, Scott Mohr, Michael Pollastri, Tom Tullius, Adrian Whitty.
Biophysical Chemistry
Research in the Biophysical Chemistry explores the
connections between physical chemistry and the chemical function of
biological molecules. Protein folding, nucleic acid structure, biological
electron transfer, and macromolecular dynamics are some of the topics
investigated by this group of researchers, using both experiment and
computation. John Caradonna, Sean Elliott, Rosina Georgiadis, Mark Grinstaff, Guilford Jones, Pinghua Liu, Björn Reinhard, John Straub, Tom Tullius, Brandon Xia.
Inorganic Chemistry
Research in Inorganic Chemistry spans the continuum from small molecule
systems to metalloproteins, from the investigation of the reactivity
properties of synthetic complexes to the use of metal-based reagents
for probing protein-DNA interactions. John Caradonna, Linda Doerrer, Sean Elliott, Warren Giering, Pinghua Liu, Tom Tullius.
Research in this highly interdisciplinary area explores the properties of matter as function of composition, structure, and processing. The aims of Materials Science are to improve existing materials or to introduce new materials with novel properties for applications in chemistry, biology, medicine, and engineering. Doerrer, Reinhard, Smith, Wang.
Organic Chemistry
The organic chemistry group emphasizes the synthesis of complex natural
and unnatural molecules of biological significance with an emphasis on
the development of new synthetic methodologies. Isolation of bioactive
natural products and synthesis aimed at drug discovery and development
and medicinal chemistry are other important areas of research. Newer
areas of research are related to utilization of parallel and combinatorial
synthesis methods in complex molecule synthesis. Warren Giering, Mark Grinstaff, Guilford Jones, Jim Panek, Mike Pollastri, John Porco, John Snyder, Scott Schaus, Corey Stephenson.
Photonics and Photochemistry
Photonics deals generally with the interaction of light and matter and
is a highly interdisciplinary branch of science. Much of the work in
the Chemistry Department occurs at the interfaces of spectroscopy, surface
science, fast time-resolved laser phototransient chemistry, and investigations
of biomolecule probes. Guilford Jones, John Porco, Larry Ziegler.
Physical Chemistry
Physical chemical research in the Chemistry Department ranges from the
development of analytical methods for environmental contaminants and
biomaterials to measurement of the ultrafast reactions of excited molecules
in the gas and fluid phases, with a strong emphasis on spectroscopic
methods. Rosina Georgiadis, Al Prock,Björn Reinhard, Kevin Smith, Larry Ziegler.
Theoretical Chemistry
The active areas of research in theoeretical and computational chemistry
and biophysics include quantum dynamics, photo-ionization and electron-molecule
scattering theory, classical statistical mechanics of dynamical processes
in liquids, and protein structure and dynamics. David Coker, Dan Dill, Tom Keyes, John Straub, Feng Wang, Brandon Xia.
Collaborations
Boston University Medical School
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/index1.asp
Photonics Research Center
http://www.thephotonicscenter.com/
Center for Chemical Methodology and Library Development
http://cmld.bu.edu/
Center for Computational Science
http://ccs.bu.edu/
Bioinformatics Graduate Program
http://bioinfo.bu.edu/
Department of Biomedical Engineering
http://www.bu.edu/dbin/bme/