Department of Biochemistry
Biochemistry is part of Basic Sciences in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Basic Sciences is comprised of the departments biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, pharmacology, and molecular physiology and biophysics. Learn more about our thriving research community by clicking the buttons below.
What is Biochemistry?
The Department of Biochemistry is dedicated to discovering the fundamental mechanisms of biological processes, bridging these discoveries with clinical applications to improve human health, and training the next generation of biomedical scientists. Our investigators are leaders in applying advanced approaches in structural biology, mass spectrometry, chemical biology, cell biology, and genetics to thematic areas like DNA and RNA metabolism, cell division, enzymology, molecular cancer biology, signaling, toxicology, and metabolism. We are united in seeking molecular answers to biomedical questions.
The Department has 27 primary investigator-track faculty and another ~50 secondary, educator, and research-track faculty. An exceptional group of graduate, medical, and undergraduate students and large cohort of post-doctoral fellows train in our laboratories supported by over $30M in funding.
As one of four basic science departments in the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, Biochemistry benefits from being affiliated with a large medical center and medical school as well as Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Connected Computing. Our unique structure allows us to strategically invest in infrastructure, initiatives, and people to fulfill our missions of research, education, and service.
Biochemistry investigators have received major awards including election to the National Academy of Sciences, and a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Stanley Cohen, 1986). Our culture of excellence, collaboration, innovation, rigor, dedication, inclusiveness, ambition, kindness, and resiliency facilitates high impact research, education, and service. – David Cortez, Chair
We invite queries regarding graduate studies, postdoctoral training, and faculty positions.
A recent article about the Biochemistry Department can be found here.
Upcoming Events
BPSA Halloween Whine & Cheese
ASCEND Committee Meeting
Biochemistry Giving Thanks Event
Min-Hsuan Li
Dr. Daniela Nicastro, UT Southwestern
Ali Angelos
Dr. Susan Ackerman, UCSD
Biochemistry Holiday Party
Dr. Dipanjan Chowdhury, Harvard University
Biochemistry Announcements
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Congratulations to our 2026 BCHM Department Retreat Talk and Poster Winners!
- Top Ph.D. talk: Dr. Stephen Clarke (Ascano lab)
- Top non-Ph.D. talk: Josie Patterson (Bhowmick lab)
- Top Ph.D. poster: Dr. Irfana Saleem (Karbstein lab
- Honorable mention Ph.D. poster: Dr. Eddie Torres (Hodges lab)
- Top non-Ph.D. poster: Sam Lisy (Ascano lab)
- Honorable mention Ph.D. Poster: Cindy Yin (Meydan lab)
Plus bragging rights by the Karbstein Lab and Katie Jo Gelasco for their win at the Lab-lympics!
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Caro Icardi (Iverson Lab) won the Grand Prize for her poster at the 2026 VICB Annual Student Research Symposium.
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Dr. Chance Meers has been awarded a Mallinckrodt Grant Award.
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The organizing committee for the Eicosanoid Research Foundation and the Winter Eicosanoid Conference named Dr. Lawrence J. Marnett as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Conference on Lipid Mediators in Health and Disease in recognition of his pioneering research on bioactive lipids, especially on the structure and function of cyclooxygenases and the role of lipid peroxidation products on DNA modification leading to mutagenesis and carcinogenesis.
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Dr. Heidi Hamm has been awarded the 2027 ASBMB Herbert Tabor Research Award which is awarded for outstanding, innovative accomplishments in biological chemistry and molecular biology and contributions to the community of scientists.
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Victoria Howard (Georgiev lab) has been named a School of Medicine Basic Sciences Brighter Ventures Student Awardee.
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Dr. Breann Brown was elected in a national election to serve on the Executive Council of the Protein Society.
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Dr. Sezen Meydan has been awarded the NIH Director's New Innovator Award.
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Congratulations to Dr. Hannah Collins (Carter lab) on winning second-place in the 2026 Cell Imaging Shared Resource Life Is Beautiful Image contest.
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Andrea Ascura (Ascano lab) has been awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship award from the NIH/NIAID.
Biochemistry News
Marnett receives Lifetime Achievement Award for bioactive lipids research
October 2026-Larry Marnett, a pioneer of the bioactive lipid research field and a University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, has received the inaugural Honn-McGiff Lifetime Achievement Award from the Eicosanoid Research Foundation and the Winter Eicosanoid Conference.
Yi Ren delivers Kairos Lecture focused on mRNA export during normal conditions or viral infections
October 2026-Yi Ren, associate professor of biochemistry, delivered a School of Medicine Basic Kairos Lecture to a full house on Thursday, Sept. 24. In her talk, “Decoding mRNA Nuclear Export: Structural Mechanisms and Viral Exploitation,” Ren showcased research from her lab on the mechanisms of messenger RNA export and how viruses can hijack it for their own purposes.
Sezen Meydan receives prestigious NIH Director’s New Innovator Award
October 2026-Sezen Meydan, assistant professor of biochemistry, has been awarded a prestigious National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. These awards are given to scientists who propose exceptionally creative, high-impact research at all career stages. The New Innovator Award is designed to fund early-stage investigators; 42 such researchers were granted this award in 2026.
Looking to become a biochemistry undergraduate major?
Contact the Biochemistry and Chemical Biology Undergraduate Major Program at https://as.vanderbilt.edu/biochemistry-chemical-biology/