Faculty

Rolf Christoffersen

Teaching Professor

3125 Biology II
Biochemistry and molecular genetics of plant and yeast secondary metabolism; research on improving undergraduate science education with a particular emphasis on improving outcomes for students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM.

Dennis Clegg

Professor, Wilcox Family Chair in BioMedicine

5125 Biology II
Human stem cell research; Molecular mechanisms of stem cell differentiation; Derivation of ocular cells from stem cells; Soft tissue regeneration.

Peter Coffey

Research Biologist

Frederick Dahlquist

Department Chair
Distinguished Professor

1126C Chem
Biochemistry; protein structure and function relationships; protein dynamics; chemotaxis in bacteria.

Anthony De Tomaso

Professor

1107 Life Sciences
Molecular mechanisms of self/non-self recognition in non-vertebrates; characterization of stem cells and development processes underlying regeneration and aging.

Stuart Feinstein

Professor

5123A Biology II
Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Neuronal Development; Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases; Structure, Function and Regulation of the Microtubule Associated Protein, Tau; Cytoskeletal Regulation.

Ruth Finkelstein

Professor
Faculty Graduate Advisor

2127 Biology II
Molecular genetics of plant development; analysis of abscisic acid signaling networks.

Steven Fisher

Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus

6121 Biology II
Structure and function in the vertebrate retina with an emphasis on mechanisms underlying photoreceptor degeneration and the role of glial cells in normal and injured or diseased retina.

Brooke Gardner

Assistant Professor

1117 Life Sciences
Combining biochemistry and cell biology to understand the regulation of membrane-bound organelles.

Michael Goard

Assistant Professor

5131 Biology II
The overarching goal of my research is to better understand how the mammalian neocortex processes and stores incoming sensory information.

Eduardo Gonzalez

Associate Teaching Professor

2320 Life Sciences
Discipline Based Educational Research. Effect of pedagogical strategies and course structures on student success. Mentoring and learning communities as responses to education disparities.

Christopher S. Hayes

Professor

3105 Life Sciences
Molecular genetics and biochemistry of bacterial contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems; mechanisms of tmRNA- and ArfA-mediated ribosome rescue.

Sung Soo Kim

Assistant Professor

2141 Biology II
Neural circuit dynamics and behavior; navigation in a visual environment; neural mechanisms of object selection and decision-making.

Kenneth S. Kosik

Harriman Professor of Neuroscience

6139A Biology II
Neural plasticity including the molecular basis of plasticity, the evolution of synapses, and disease-related impairments of plasticity such as occurs in Alzheimer's disease.

Petra Kranzfelder

Assistant Teaching Professor

LSB 3308
The overarching focus of the Kranzfelder lab is developing evidence-based knowledge, practices, and assessments to improve biology (and STEM) teaching and learning at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, especially at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).

John Lew

Associate Professor

1109 Life Sciences
Molecular mechanisms of signal transduction; Alzheimer's Disease and other protein aggregation/misfolding diseases; molecular biology, enzymology, and protein structure/function.

Matthieu Louis

Associate Professor

3141 Biology II
Combining theory and experimentation to understand how navigational decisions come about in terms of neural-circuit computation.

Seng Hui Low

Continuing Lecturer

2111 Life Sciences Building

David Low

Distinguished Professor Emeritus

3306 Life Sciences
Cellular communication between bacteria, including mechanisms and biology of contact-dependent growth inhibition; epigenetic gene regulatory mechanisms.

Dzwokai Zach Ma

Associate Professor

3119 Life Sciences
Virus-host interaction.

Michael Mahan

Professor

2129 Biology II
Microbial pathogenesis; innate and adaptive immune responses to infection; microbial sepsis; vaccine and antimicrobial development.

Denise J. Montell

Duggan Professor and Distinguished Professor

4130-I Biology II
Combination of molecular, genetic, and state-of-the-art imaging approaches to define and solve fundamental questions in cell and developmental biology with implications for neurodegenerative disease, ischemic diseases and cancer.

Craig Montell

Duggan Professor and
Distinguished Professor

4130-F Biology II
Molecular and cellular basis of animal behavior in flies and mosquitoes.

Daniel E. Morse

Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

3155 Marine Biotechnology
Bio-inspired catalytic nanofabrication, tunable photonic materials and dynamic self-assembly. Applications to semiconductors, high-power batteries, electro-optics, IR and solar energy.

Eduardo Orias

Research Professor
Professor Emeritus

1123 Biology II
Tetrahymena genetics and genomics; genetic, physical and sequence mapping of the germline and expressed genomes of the unicellular eukaryote, Tetrahymena thermophila.

Stephen Poole

Professor Emeritus

3111 Life Sciences
Collaboration with the Low and Hayes labs on contact-dependent growth inhibition systems in bacteria.

Chris Richardson

Assistant Professor

1115 Life Sciences
We investigate DNA repair mechanisms and use this knowledge to improve gene editing.

Joel Rothman

Distinguished Professor
Wilcox Family Chair in Biotechnology
Director, Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program

3137 Biology II
Regulation of development and differentiation; regulation of programmed cell death and cell division; mechanisms of tumorigenesis.

Cyrus Safinya

Distinguished Professor

2204 MRL
Safinya’s research revolves around elucidation of structures and interactions in assemblies of biological molecules and soft matter systems, including, liquid crystalline biological matter.

Charles E. Samuel

Research Professor,
and C.A. Storke II Professor and Distinguished Professor, Emeritus

2119 Life Sciences
Antiviral innate immunity and interferon action, with focus on the roles of double-stranded RNA in translational control by the PKR kinase and A-to-I RNA editing by the ADAR1 deaminase.

Julie H. Simpson

Associate Professor

3129 Biology II
Genetics, Neural Circuits, and Motor sequences.

Ikuko Smith

Assistant Professor

5126 Biology II
Information processing by neural circuitry with a special focus on the role of active dendrites in nonlinear modes of synaptic integration.

William Smith

Professor

2137 Biology II
Developmental genetics and morphogenesis of the primitive chordate Ciona.

James A. Thomson

Distinguished Professor Emeritus

330 N. Orchard St., Madison, WI 53715
Studies the self-renewal and pluripotency of stem cells.

Doug Thrower

Teaching Professor Emeritus

2318 Life Sciences

Jean-Marie Volland

Assistant Professor

2115 Life Sciences
The Volland Lab focuses on exploring and understanding uncultivated, giant bacteria, like Thiomargarita magnifica, to challenge traditional views of bacterial life and uncover fundamental processes of life through innovative microscopy and genomic techniques.

Herbert Waite

Distinguished Professor

3154 Marine Biotechnology
Structure-properties relationships in loadbearing marine biomolecular materials, e.g. from mussels, squid and whelks, at different length and time scales to design new materials.

Thomas Weimbs

Professor

2113 Life Sciences
Investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and related renal diseases. Membrane trafficking and epithelial cell polarity.

Leslie Wilson

Research Professor
Distinguished Professor Emeritus

1119 Life Sciences
Mechanism and regulation of microtubule polymerization and dynamics; mechanism of action of microtubule-targeted anticancer drugs and microtubule-regulatory proteins.

Max Wilson

Assistant Professor

3127 Biology II
Combines tools from Biology, Engineering, and Physics to understand the cell’s perceptual field.

Mike Wilton

Associate Teaching Professor
Associate Dean- Division of Undergraduate Education

Instruction and mentorship of biology majors; research into how mentorship and improved course structure influence student academic success and retention in the major.

Soojin Yi

Professor

4107 Life Science Building
An evolutionary biologist using genomic and epigenomic tools to study regulatory evolution.