UCLA Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program
Application 2015-2016
The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Predoctoral Research Training Program at UCLA is an NIH-funded program
designed to provide research training in the area of chemical approaches to the solution of biological problems. Students
selected to participate in this program are trained in the language and techniques of biological and chemical sciences and
gain experience as members of multidisciplinary teams working on frontier research at the chemistry-biology interface.
Program: Open to trainees working with CBI Training Faculty members and enrolled in Ph.D. programs in Chemistry
and Biochemistry; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics; Molecular,
Cell, and Developmental Biology; Molecular and Medical Pharmacology; Bioengineering; Public Health and Physiology
or other departments provided the trainee’s research is at the interface of chemistry and biology. The traineeship provides
a stipend during the second, third, and fourth years of graduate study. The major components of the training program are
(1) the core course, "Introduction to the Chemistry of Biology"; (2) a one-quarter internship in an area complementary to
the student's central research area; and (3) the Chemistry of Biology Seminar program that includes presentations by
students as well as outside speakers. The program also includes ethics training, quarterly Chemical Biology colloquia,
and the MBI/CBI Retreat. Applicants must also attend the Annual CBI day each year they are in the program and after the
program while at UCLA, and present a poster or talk at the event. Interaction with the program once you have graduated is
highly encouraged. Additional information on the training program can be obtained by contacting the Program
Administrator, Lindy Ransom, 4505A Molecular Sciences Building, (310) 206-9005 or email
(maynardadmin@chem.ucla.edu). Application Deadline: May 27, 2015
Participating Faculty: Fifty- two faculty from the Departments of Biological Chemistry, Chemistry and Biochemistry,
Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, Molecular and Medical
Pharmacology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Physiology are the Training Faculty in the Chemistry-Biology
Interface Training Program. Their affiliations and research areas are described briefly on the next page and in more detail
in the graduate brochures and websites of the participating departments. Students with a Chemistry focus should find a
Biology Training Faculty member to act as Collaborator, and Biology students should select a Chemistry-Biochemistry
Collaborator. The Collaborator is typically the outside-the-department member of the graduate student's committee. It is
not necessary for the collaborator to write a letter of recommendation.
Eligibility: The training program is funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National
Institutes of Health, which limits eligibility to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Non-permanent residents can be
nominated and selected as Associates, who participate in all CBI activities, but must be supported financially from TA
and RA funds. The applicant should be a Ph.D. student with a CBI Training Faculty member and at the end of their first
year of graduate study. Applications by persons in underrepresented groups including underrepresented minorities,
students with disabilities, and from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.
Awards: Awards are for three years, as long as the trainee continues to participate in all CBI activities. A stipend is
provided by the NIH, which must be supplemented by the research advisor to the level of a Research Assistantship in the
trainee’s department. The NIH funds provide tuition and fees (including health insurance).
Selection: Selection is based on progress and achievement; prior academic record; recommendations from the student's
research advisor and two additional faculty members or science mentors; and a statement of purpose prepared by the
prospective trainee. The Executive Committee selects and guides the trainees.
1
Participating Training Faculty Members
Anne Andrews
Chem. & Biochem.,
Psychiatry &
Biobehavioral Sci.
Path. & Lab.
Medicine, Mol. &
Med. Pharm.
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Professor
How the serotonin Neurotransmitter system nmodulates complex
behaviors
Asst. Professor
How lipid metabolism influences the growth of rapidly dividing
normal and neoplastic tissues
Professor
Professor
Membrane protein structure and function
RNA processing and RNA-protein interactions
Ins. For Molecular
Medicine
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Bioengineering
Chem. & Biochem.;
Biol. Chem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Professor
Interconnection of growth factor signaling and cell metabolism
Professor
Director, Professor
Professor
Chair, Professor
Professor
Distinguished
Professor, Professor
Professor
Professor
Asst. Professor
Professor
Professor
Synthetic organic chemistry
Proteins on surfaces; biophysics; spectroscopy
Physical aspects of viral infectivity
Thomas Graeber
Feng Guo
Patrick Harran
Medicine
(Pathology)
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
(Mol. Cell. & Integ.
Physiology)
Mol. & Med. Pharm.
Biological Chemistry
Chem. & Biochem.
Biosynthesis and regulation of coenzyme Q
Biochemistry of aging, metabolic regulation
Biomolecular recognition
Transcriptional control in development; ubiquitin-like proteins
Biological and biomemetic materials based on polypeptides
Study of proteins by X-ray diffraction and computational methods;
bioinformatics
Conformational studies of nucleic acids using multidimensional
NMR techniques
Iron homeostasis in health and disease
Systems biology of cancer signaling
Heme and microRNA maturation
Small molecule inhibitors
Kendall Houk
Chem. & Biochem.
Jing Huang
Wayne Hubbell
Michael Jung
Mol. & Med. Pharm.
Chem. & Biochem.,
Jules Stein Eye Inst.
Mol. Cell & Devel.
Biology
Chem. & Biochem.
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Professor, Cram
Chair
Professor, Winstein
Chair
Associate Professor
Distinguished
Professor
Professor,
Invesigator
Professor
Carla Koehler
Sriram Kosuri
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Professor
Asst. Professor
Ohyun Kwon
Joseph Loo
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Professor
Professor
Heather Maynard
Sabeeha
Merchant
Craig Merlic
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Associate Professor
Professor
Chem. & Biochem.
Associate Professor
Steven Bensinger
James Bowie
Guillaume
Chanfreau
Heather
Christofk
Catherine Clarke
Steven Clarke
Robert Clubb
Albert Courey
Tim Deming
David Eisenberg
Juli Feigon
Tomas Ganz
Neil Garg
Robin Garrell
William Gelbart
Steven Jacobsen
Theoretical organic chemistry and biochemistry; enzyme design
Chemical biology, functional genomics and proteomics
Molecular mechanisms of membrane transduction, particularly
visual
DNA and histone methylation
Total synthesis of biological active natural and unnatural products,
medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry
Mitochondrial biogenesis
Developing and leveraging new technologies in DNA synthesis,
next-generation sequencing, and genome engineering
Organic synthesis and chemical genetics
Proteomics, mass spectroscopy, elucidation of protein complexes
and protein structures, analytical chemistry
Biomaterials
Metal metabolism for membrane biogenesis
Systems of biology of cancer signaling
2
Jennifer Murphy
Gregory Payne
Matteo Pellegrini
April Pyle
Margot Quinlan
Amy Rowat
Michael
Sofroniew
Ren Sun
Yi Tang
David Teplow
Jorge Torres
Shimon Weiss
James
A.
Wohlschlegel
Otto Yang
Todd Yeates
Mol.
and
Med.
Pharmacology
Biol. Chem.
Mol. Cell & Devel.
Biology
Microbio., Immun.,
& Mol. Gen.
Chem. & Biochem.
Integrative Bio. &
Physiology
Medicine
(Neurology)
BioEngin.,
ChemEngin., Chem.
& Biochem.
Chem. & Biomol.
Eng.
Medicine
(Neurology)
Chem. & Biochem.
Chem. & Biochem.
Medicine (Biological
Chemistry)
Medicine,
Med.Infec.
Disease,
Microbio., Immun.,
& Mol. Gen.
Chem. & Biochem.
Asst. Professor
PET imaging to accelerate and improve drug R and D
Vice Chair,
Professor
Associate Professor
Protein and membrane traffic
Asst. Professor
Asst. Professor
Bioinformatics of gene expression, epigenetics, and signal
transduction
Mechanisms regulating cell fate in human embryonic stem cells
Asst. Professor
Biochemistry, Microscopy and genetic approaches to study
dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton
Mechanics and Physiology of Biological Materials
Professor
Neural injury and repair
Professor
Systems biology of viral infection: Integration of biology,
nanotechnology and medical application
Professor
Natural product discovery, biosynthesis and engineering
Professor in
Residence
Asst. Professor
Professor, Willard
Chair
Assistant Professor
Physical biochemistry and biology of amyloid proteins
Professor
Professor
Mitotic Spindle Assembly
Single molecule biophysics
Proteomic and Biochemical Strategies for understanding the role of
ubiquitin and SUMO-regulated protein networks
Role of cellular immunity in HIV-I Pathogensis
Three-dimensional structure and function of proteins by X-ray
diffraction
3
UCLA Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program
Application 2015-2016
Please return completed materials to:
Lindy Ransom, Program Administrator
Please send a PDF version of the application to her at: maynardadmin@chem.ucla.edu.
Application Deadline: May 27, 2015
Applicant’s Name:
(last, first, middle initial)
Department: __________________________________
Year: _________
Home Address:
Lab Address:
(include mail code)
Lab Phone:
Home Phone:
E-mail Address:
Student I.D. Number:
Citizenship Status (US citizenship or permanent residence status required)
U.S. Citizen
California Resident:
Permanent Resident
Yes
No
Have you previously received a National Research Service Award:
Yes
No
Are you an underrepresented minority* (voluntary response):
Yes
No
* The NIH has found that following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research: African Americans, Hispanic Americans,
Native Americans/Alaska Natives who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment, Hawaiian Natives and natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands.
Do you have a physical or mental disability (voluntary response):
Yes
Are you from an economically disadvantaged background (voluntary response):
4
No
Yes
No
Education (College and University, beginning with most recent)
Institution, Department and Location
Major
Minor
Dates
Attended
Degree Date Received
or Expected
List all academic honors, including fellowships and scholarships:
List your publications, including the titles of all research papers published, in press, submitted for publication or
in preparation.
5
Proposed Research Sponsor:
E-mail Address:
Campus Address:
Proposed Research Collaborator*:
E-mail Address:
Campus Address:
*This should be a second UCLA faculty member who can provide mentoring and/or collaboration from the
chemical perspective for trainees with primary research in a biology field, or from the biological side for
trainees with primary research in chemistry.
Tentative Thesis Topic:
Please summarize, in 250 words or less, 1) your proposed research activities and their relevance to your training
at the chemistry-biology interface, and 2) your tentative plans for your research internship. These plans should
be formulated in consultation with your research sponsors and approved below.
I approve the proposed research activities described above.
Primary Research Sponsor’s Signature
Date
6
List the names, titles/departments, institutional addresses, and phone numbers of two professional references
(other than your sponsor) from which you are requesting Applicant Evaluation Forms:
Applicant’s Checklist: Please submit the following with your application.
Copy of undergraduate college transcripts.
Graduate school transcript.
GRE scores showing percentile ratings. These need not be original records; copies are acceptable.
Proposed research activities signed by research sponsor (page three of application).
AND remember to:
Give one Applicant Evaluation Form to your mentor and one Applicant Evaluation Form to two other
professors or professional references.
If the one-, two-, or three-year predoctoral institutional award for which I am applying is granted, I agree to
participate in the formal classes and/or activities sponsored by the program.
Applicant’s Signature
Date
7