About the Program

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CBI Program
Department of Chemistry
137 Remsen Hall
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218

410-516-7791 phone
410-516-8420 fax

Johns Hopkins University | School of Medicine | School of Public Health

The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Graduate Program

The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) graduate program is founded on the philosophy that modern science no longer fits within the boundaries traditionally used to define fields of study.  This new graduate program brings together faculty from the Johns Hopkins University departments of:
• Chemistry, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
• Biology, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
• Pharmacology & Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine
• Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Bloomberg School of Public Health
The CBI program provides students with training that will enable them to challenge the traditional boundaries currently separating chemistry from biology. CBI graduates will be scientists who are capable of interdisciplinary research and will approach both chemistry and biology from a more global and health-related perspective.

 As a CBI student you will receive the Ph.D. in Chemistry upon completion of the program. The nature of the program will provide you with an expansive choice of faculty thesis advisors (preceptors) whose research spans the range of the Chemistry-Biology interface. As a CBI Ph.D. candidate you will be prepared for research by completing formal course work that is individually tailored to meet your needs, and by participating in research rotations that enable you to make informed choices of research projects. Participation in a weekly Chemistry-Biology Forum will provide you with additional mechanisms for building a comprehensive awareness of the field.

CBI students will be required to have good academic standing with coursework that includes classes in chemistry and the biological, biochemical or biomedical sciences.

CBI NEWS: A Look at CBI Retreat + CBI Student Wins Fellowship

Poster session from the CBI Retreat, September 2007.

Congratulations to Erin Bowers for earning a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Erin is one of 57 Chemistry graduate students nationwide to receive this award. Erin, a graduate of Tulane University, is currently a second year graduate student in the Chemistry-Biology Interface Graduate Program

CBI Research

Research done in CBI labs spans a wide range of topics at the Chemistry-Biology interface.  Topics include:

• Enzyme mechanisms, inhibitors, and metabolic pahtways
• DNA replication, damage, and repair
• Using small molecules to probe signal transduction, gene regulation, angiogenesis, and other biological processes
• Synthetic methods and medicinal chemistry
• Synthetic modeling of metalloenzymes
• Macromolecular structure determination by NMR and X-ray crystallography
• Development of spectroscopic and instrumental methods for structure determination and studies on molecular dynamics
• RNA and protein folding
• Chemical tools for biotechnology

Useful Information
2007-2008 CBI Graduate Student Handbook - UPDATED 10/29/07