Weill Cornell Medical College The Rockefeller University Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Apply Online Application Due: December 1, 2013

Faculty Directory

[[ PLEASE TREAD LIGHTLY when editing this page. It’s complex code for the WordPress editor, and is easily broken. ]]

The Zuckerman Research Center at MSKCC

TPCB students have unparalleled opportunities to work with over 50 faculty members on diverse research topics in chemical biology at Weill Cornell, Rockefeller, and Sloan Kettering. Our faculty includes a combination of internationally-recognized luminaries and emerging scientific leaders of the future. Our laboratories are well-funded, with over $50 million in NIH research grants and an NIH Chemistry–Biology Interface Training Grant. Our faculty have been recognized with numerous major awards, including the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Prof. Roderick MacKinnon in 2003 and a MacArthur Fellowship to Prof. Vanessa Ruta in 2019. We also include 9 members of the National Academy of Sciences, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, 6 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 6 current Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, 2 NCI Outstanding Investigators, 12 NIGMS MIRA Awardees, 2 NINDS Research Program Awardees, 2 NIH Director’s Pioneer Awardees, 11 NIH Director’s New Innovators, a NIH Director’s Early Independence Awardee, 3 NIH Pathway to Independence Awardees, an NSF CAREER Awardee, and an HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow.

[[ THIS LINE IS THE SORT FORM CONTAINER. Because of limitations in the WordPress editor, the sort form has to be loaded dynamically. PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS LINE. ]]

Faculty Member Institution Research Topics Therapeutic Areas Research Description
Gregory Alushin, PhD photo Gregory Alushin, PhDNIH Director’s Early Independence Awardee Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: Cryo-electron microscopy, Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Biotechnology: Protein engineering

Cancer, Cardiovascular Mechanisms of cellular force sensing; cytoskeletal biophysics
Heeseon An, PhD photo Heeseon An, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, Chemical probe development, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Proteomics, Biotechnology: Protein engineering Cancer Protein homeostasis and chemical cell biology
Olaf Andersen, MD photo Olaf Andersen, MD* Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Single molecule methods Immunology, Microbiology, Neuroscience Molecular mechanisms of ion channels
Daniel Bachovchin, PhD photo Daniel Bachovchin, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Proteomics, Activity-based protein profiling Cancer, Immunology, Microbiology Chemical probe discovery and characterization
John Blenis, PhD photo John Blenis, PhD Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Proteomics, Metabolomics Cancer Signal transduction pathways and cancer cell biology
Steve Bonilla, PhD photo Steve Bonilla, PhD
HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow
Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Cryo-electron microscopy, Single molecule methods Virology Three-dimensional structure and function of cellular and viral RNAs
Olga Boudker, PhD photo Olga Boudker, PhD
HHMI Investigator
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Weill Cornell Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, Biotechnology: Protein engineering Neuroscience Molecular mechanisms of membrane transporters
Sean Brady, PhD photo Sean Brady, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
HHMI Early Career Scientist
Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: Natural product biosynthesis, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, NMR spectroscopy, Biotechnology Cancer, Microbiology Genetically encoded small molecules
Jochen Buck, MD, PhD photo Jochen Buck, MD, PhD Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, High-throughput screening assays, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Chemical Cell Biology: Proteomics, Metabolomics Cancer, Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Microbiology Biology of soluble adenylyl cyclases
Brian Chait, DPhil photo Brian Chait, DPhil Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Proteomics, Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Nanotechnology, Computational Chemistry: Docking, Protein modeling Cancer, Immunology, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Virology Mass spectrometery and gaseous ion chemistry
Jue Chen, PhD photo Jue Chen, PhD
HHMI Investigator
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, Cryo-electron microscopy Cancer, Immunology, Microbiology Structure and regulation of ATP-powered membrane transporters
Shuibing Chen, PhD photo Shuibing Chen, PhD
NIH Director’s New Innovator
Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics Cancer, Cardiovascular, Diabetes Stem cell and chemical biology
Gabriela Chiosis, PhD photo Gabriela Chiosis, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical methodology, Rational drug design, High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Cellular imaging, Proteomics, Biotechnology: Radiochemistry, Computational Chemistry: Docking, Protein modeling Cancer, Neuroscience Heat shock proteins – chemical biology and drug discovery
John Chodera, PhD photo John Chodera, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, High-throughput screening assays, Macromolecular Structure and Function, Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Computational Chemistry: Cheminformatics, Docking, Protein modeling Cancer, Virology Effects of small molecules on biomolecular macromolecules and cellular pathways
Arvin Dar, PhD photo Arvin Dar, PhDNIH Director’s New Innovator Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, X-ray crystallography, Mass spectrometry Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Proteomics, Activity-based protein profiling Cancer, Immunology Targeting cancer pathways with chemical switches and molecular glues
Seth Darst, PhD photo Seth Darst, PhDMember, National Academy of Sciences
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, Computational Chemistry: Protein modeling Microbiology Structural aspects of transcription
Yael David, PhD photo Yael David, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Early Stage Investigator
Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Cellular imaging, Activity-based protein profiling, Biotechnology: Protein engineering Cancer, Diabetes, Virology Epigenetic regulation and cancer
Prof. Melinda Diver Melinda Diver, PhD
NIH Pathway to Independence Awardee
Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, Cryo-electron microscopy Neuroscience Structure and function of somatosensory ion channels
David Eliezer, PhD photo David Eliezer, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
Weill Cornell Macromolecular Structure and Function: NMR spectroscopy, Computational Chemistry: Protein modeling Neuroscience Biological role of non-native protein structure
Prof. Jacob Geri Jacob Geri, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Early Stage Investigator
Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Proteomics Cancer, Immunology Optically controlled proximity labeling and high-throughput proteomics
Steven Gross, PhD photo Steven Gross, PhD Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical methodology, High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Proteomics, Metabolomics Metabolomics, metabolite profiling, stable isotope tracing, pathway analysis
Lorraine Gudas, PhD photo Lorraine Gudas, PhD Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Metabolomics Cancer, Diabetes Retinoid pharmacology
Daniel Heller, PhD photo Daniel Heller, PhDNIH Director’s New Innovator
NSF CAREER Awardee
Sloan Kettering Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Biotechnology: Nanotechnology Cancer Nanochemistry for molecular sensors and targeted therapeutics
Richard Hite, PhD photo Richard Hite, PhD Sloan Kettering Macromolecular structure and function: X-ray crystallography, Cryo-electron microscopy, Single molecule methods Cancer, Neuroscience Structural and functional characterization of ion channels
Morgan Huse, PhD photo Morgan Huse, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Cellular imaging Cancer, Immunology Chemical biology of lymphocyte signalling
Samie Jaffrey, MD, PhD photo Samie Jaffrey, MD, PhD
NINDS Research Program Awardee
Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Cellular imaging, Proteomics, Metabolomics Cancer, Diabetes, Neuroscience Neuronal signal transduction and chemical biology
Xuejun Jiang, PhD photo Xuejun Jiang, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughout screening assays, Chemical proble development, Rational drug design, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Proteomics, Metabolomics Cancer, Cardiovascular, Neuroscience Cell death and autophagy, mechanisms and drug discovery
Tarun Kapoor, PhD photo Tarun Kapoor, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Mass spectrometry, Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Cellular imaging, Proteomics Cancer Chemistry and cell biology
Alex Kentsis, MD, PhD photo Alex Kentsis, MD, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, Macromolecular Structure and Function, Chemical Cell Biology: Proteomics, Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Computational Chemistry Cancer Functional proteomics in cancer
Kayvan Keshari, PhD photo Kayvan Keshari, PhD
NIH Pathway to Independence Awardee
Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, NMR spectroscopy, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Metabolomics Cancer Cancer metabolism and metabolic imaging
Sebastian Klinge, PhD photo Sebastian Klinge, PhDNIH Director’s New Innovator Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, X-ray crystallography Structural aspects of eukaryotic ribosome assembly
Joshua Levitz, PhD photo Joshua Levitz, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Early Stage Investigator
Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, Chemical probe development,Macromolecular Structure and Function: Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Biotechnology: Protein engineering Neuroscience Neurotransmitter receptor molecular biophysics and neurophysiology
Yueming Li, PhD photo Yueming Li, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Cellular imaging, Proteomics, Activity-based protein profiling Cancer, Neuroscience Biology of transmembrane proteases
Christopher Lima, PhD photo Christopher Lima, PhD
HHMI Investigator
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
Sloan Kettering Macromolecular Structure and Function: Cryo-electron microscopy, Enzymology, X-ray crystallography Structural basis of protein sumoylation and RNA stability
Shixin Liu, PhD photo Shixin Liu, PhDNIH Pathway to Independence Awardee
NIH Director’s New Innovator
Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Biotechnology: Nanotechnology Cancer, Microbiology, Virology Dynamic interplay of gene expression machineries
Stephen Long, PhD photo Stephen Long, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
Sloan Kettering Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, X-ray crystallography Cancer, Immunology, Neuroscience Structure and function of ion channels and membrane-embedded enzymes
Minkui Luo, PhD photo Minkui Luo, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
NIH Director’s New Innovator
Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Proteomics, Activity-based protein profiling, Biotechnology: Protein engineering Cancer, Neuroscience Protein post-translational modification and inhibitor design
Jiankun Lyu, PhD photo Jiankun Lyu, PhD Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, Chemical probe development, Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Computational Chemistry: Cheminformatics, Docking, Protein modeling Cancer, Immunology, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Virology Computational methods to discover novel small-molecule therapeutics
Roderick MacKinnon, MD photo Roderick MacKinnon, MD
HHMI Investigator
2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy Neuroscience Structure and function of ion channels and associated regulatory proteins
Luciano Marraffini, PhD photo Luciano Marraffini, PhD
HHMI Investigator
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
NIH Director’s Pioneer Awardee
NIH Director’s New Innovator
HHMI Faculty Scholar
Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function, Biotechnology Microbiology Bacteriology; mechanisms that prevent horizontal gene transfer
Frederick Maxfield, PhD photo Frederick Maxfield, PhD* Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging Cardiovascular, Neuroscience Biophysical chemistry of membrane traffic
Anant Menon, PhD photo Anant Menon, PhD Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Proteomics Cardiovascular Trafficking of membrane lipids; protein lipidation and glycosylation
Tobias Meyer, PhD photo Tobias Meyer, PhD
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging Cell signaling, cell migration, cell proliferation decisions
Crina Nimigean, PhD photo Crina Nimigean, PhD Weill Cornell Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, Single molecule methods, Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Nanotechnology Ion channel structure and mechanism
Nikola Pavletich, PhD photo Nikola Pavletich, PhD
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Member, National Academy of Medicine
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Sloan Kettering Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, X-ray crystallography Cancer Structural biology of the cell cycle
Alexandros Pertsinidis, PhD photo Alexandros Pertsinidis, PhDNIH Director’s New Innovator Sloan Kettering Macromolecular Structure and Function: Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Biotechnology: Nanotechnology Single-molecule and single-cell studies of gene regulation
Viviana Risca, PhD photo Viviana Risca, PhD
NIH Director’s New Innovator
Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Cellular imaging, Biotechnology: Radiochemistry, Computational Chemistry: Protein modeling Cancer 3D chromatin organization and mechanisms of transcriptional repression
Jeremy Rock, PhD photo Jeremy Rock, PhD
NIH Director’s New Innovator
Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics Microbiology Tuberculosis host–pathogen interactions and antibiotics
Neal Rosen, MD, PhD photo Neal Rosen, MD, PhDNCI Outstanding Investigator Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics Cancer Mechanism-based therapeutic strategies for cancer
Michael Rout, PhD photo Michael Rout, PhD Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, Mass spectrometry, Cryo-electron microscopy, Single molecule methods Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Proteomics, Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Computational Chemistry: Protein modeling Cancer, Immunology, Virology Structure and mechanisms of the nuclear pore complex
Vanessa Ruta, PhD photo Vanessa Ruta, PhD
HHMI Investigator
2019 MacArthur Fellow
NINDS Research Program Awardee
NIH Director’s New Innovator
Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging Neuroscience Neurophysiology and behavior; innate and adaptive animal neural circuits
Timothy Ryan, PhD photo Timothy Ryan, PhD
NINDS MERIT Awardee
Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Biotechnology Neuroscience Physical chemistry of the synapse
Thomas Sakmar, MD photo Thomas Sakmar, MD Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, Chemical probe development, Macromolecular Structure and Function: X-ray crystallography, Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Proteomics, Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Nanotechnology, Computational Chemistry: Protein modeling Diabetes, Neuroscience, Virology Molecular mechanisms of transmembrane signaling
David Scheinberg, MD, PhD photo David Scheinberg, MD, PhD
NCI Outstanding Investigator
Sloan Kettering Biotechnology: Protein engineering, Nanotechnology, Radiochemistry Cancer, Immunology Molecular pharmacology & chemistry; targeted immunotherapies
Simon Scheuring, PhD photo Simon Scheuring, PhD
NIH Director’s Pioneer Awardee
Weill Cornell Macromolecular Structure and Function: Single molecule methods, Chemical Cell Biology: Cellular imaging, Biotechnology: Nanotechnology Microbiology, Neuroscience Atomic force microscopy of membrane protein structure-function
Stewart Shuman, MD, PhD photo Stewart Shuman, MD, PhD
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
NIGMS MIRA Awardee
Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, X-ray crystallography Microbiology Nucleic acid metabolism
Derek Tan, PhD photo Derek Tan, PhD Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical methodology, Total synthesis, Rational drug design, Diversity-oriented synthesis, High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Computational Chemistry: Cheminformatics, Docking Cancer, Microbiology Design and discovery of novel antibiotics and anticancer agents
Ekaterina, Vinogradova, PhD photo Ekaterina Vinogradova, PhD Rockefeller Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical probe development, High-throughput screening assays, Rational drug design, Chemical Cell Biology: Proteomics, Activity-based protein profiling, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Mass spectometry, Enzymology Cancer, Immunology, Neuroscience, Microbiology Chemical proteomic technologies to profile and perturb immune protein function
Thomas Walz, PhD photo Thomas Walz, PhD Rockefeller Macromolecular Structure and Function: Cryo-electron microscopy Cancer Mechanisms underlying macromolecular machines and lipid-protein interactions
Harel Weinstein, DSc photo Harel Weinstein, DSc* Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: Rational drug design, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Single molecule methods, Computational Chemistry: Protein modeling Cancer, Neuroscience Biophysical and physiological mechanisms of membranes and membrane proteins
Pengbo Zhou, PhD photo Pengbo Zhou, PhD Weill Cornell Bioactive Small Molecules: High-throughput screening assays, Chemical probe development, Rational drug design, Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, Mass spectrometry, Chemical Cell Biology: Chemical genetics, Proteomics, Biotechnology: Protein engineering Cancer, Neuroscience Physiological and pathological roles of ubiquitin-dependent protein destruction
Samuel Danishefsky, PhD photo Samuel Danishefsky, PhD*Professor Emeritus
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Sloan Kettering Bioactive Small Molecules: Chemical methodology, Total synthesis, Biotechnology: Protein engineering Cancer, Immunology, Microbiology Syntheses of antitumor and anti-infective natural products
Dinshaw Patel, PhD photo Dinshaw Patel, PhD*Professor Emeritus
Member, National Academy of Sciences
Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Sloan Kettering Macromolecular Structure and Function: Enzymology, X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy Cancer, Microbiology Structural biology of nucleic acids and nucleic acid binding proteins

*This faculty member is no longer accepting new graduate students.