Home | Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Welcome to the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

As one of the first departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the nation, we are proud of our strong tradition of combining cutting-edge technology with impactful biology. We continue to leverage this interdisciplinary approach to yield break-through discoveries in biomedicine.

Our faculty of over 30 primary and secondary members cover a broad range of research areas, with particular strengths in structural biology, chemical biology, gene regulation and protein folding.

We are also the proud home of the Eldridge Reeves Johnson Research Foundation which offers advanced physical instrumentation and instruction to researchers across campus.

We are actively growing, with several recent hires, and our faculty are broadly engaged across campus with many joint appointments in other departments, institutes and centers.

We welcome you to learn more about our department in the following pages or contact us.

Titan Krios...
Installation Phase One

News & Publications

Garcia Lab in Epigenetics & Chromatin
February 2019
Ben Garcia's lab uses time-resolved Mass Spec to map the network of protein changes during EMT
Shorter in Science
February 2019
Jim Shorter and colleagues show that expression of poly(Proline-Arginine) in mouse brain causes disease through dysregulation of heterochromatin
Black in Nature Communications
January 2019
Ben Black and colleagues use gene targeting to show S7of CENP-A is dispensable for centromeres
Vinogradov Lab in Cell Metabolism
January 2019
Sergei Vinogradov and lab develop a new faster oxygen sensor able to monitor oxygen metabolism deep in tissues.

Seminars & Events

Friday Research Discussion | Johnson Lab
Friday, March 22, 2019 • 3:30 | JF Library
Biosensing applications of graphene chemical sensors and carbon nanotube vapor sensors
Raiziss Seminar | Catherine Royer, PhD
Thursday, March 28, 2019 • 12 noon | Austrian Auditorium, CRB
Probing sequence determinants of folding cooperativity by pressure-based mapping of protein conformational landscapes
BMB Grad Group Lab Rotations
Friday, March 29, 2019 • 3:30 | JF Library
Poster Session
Beckman Center for Cryo-EM Inaugural Symposium
Tuesday, May 28, 2019 | Rubenstein Auditorium, Smilow
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Registration Required

Faculty Spotlight

Kristen W. Lynch, PhD

Kristen Lynch is Chair of the Department and a Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics with a secondary appointment in Genetics. Kristen’s laboratory studies regulation of RNA processing, namely alternative splicing and polyadenylation, and how these processes are controlled during immune responses. For example, a recent study focused on the role of alternative splicing in host-viral interactions. Additional areas of interest are how signaling pathways influence the activity of RNA binding proteins, the variation of splicing in cancer and in T cell biology, and the coordination of splicing with polyadenylation and epigenetics. Kristen also oversees the Penn RNA Group.