Cluster focus

The Structural Biology Cluster aims to develop innovative, responsive and highly competitive research programs that will expand the contributions of structural biology into the wealth of biological research programs already present on the UW campus, and will catalyze productive interactions among faculty and students. Cluster faculty are expected to develop vigorous and innovative research programs; advise graduate and post-graduate research in the area of structural biology; develop and maintain extramural funding for their research programs; and develop new courses in their area of expertise.

Cluster accomplishments

  • The cluster was a major force behind UW-Madison receiving a National Institute of General Medical Sciences grant to establish the Center for Eukaryotic Structural Genomics to make three-dimensional, atomic-level structures of proteins corresponding with DNA structures. A cluster faculty member is the co-principal investigator on this $35 million grant. The center has worked on protein structures based on research from all over campus, and more than six departments participate in nominating which proteins the group should research further.
  • Another cluster faculty member is a co-principal investigator on the Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine training grant funded by the National Library of Medicine that sponsors 26 postdoctoral students and fellowships each year in areas related to biomedical sciences. The group also sponsors a summer program, which provides research experience for minority undergraduate students who are interested in graduate school. Last summer, six students worked in cluster faculty laboratories.
  • A cluster faculty member is also co-principal investigator for the Bringing Advanced Computation Techniques to Environmental Research (BACTER) Institute, a program that provides a “crash course” for graduate students to learn all elements of computation biology research, including genome sequences, protein structures and macromolecular functions.
  • The cluster has added a new course in X-ray crystallography and is developing new courses in the Department of Chemistry based on structural biology.
  • A cluster faculty member is also working on an undergraduate teaching grant with the Center for Biology Education to provide students the opportunity to better understand structural biology by building 3-D models of proteins structures.
  • Another cluster faculty member, who has received multiple federal grant awards from the NIH and NSF to study RNA structure, is co-director of the National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison. His publications have been featured on the covers of Nature Structural Biology and the Journal of Molecular Biology.

Cluster structure

The cluster faculty serve to reinforce and enhance the study of structural biology already occurring on campus. Prior to the cluster, UW-Madison did not have enough structural-biology scholars to create the needed critical mass. With the addition of the three new faculty, the structural biology work at UW-Madison is now top tier.

Cluster coordinator, faculty and lead dean

Cluster Coordinator

Cluster Faculty

Lead Dean

  • Molly Jahn, Dean, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences