Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

The Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology is an established basic science department that plays a central role in the research and education missions of Thomas Jefferson University. The overall goal of the department is to make basic and translational discoveries that impact our understanding of the biological sciences and human health, and to train the researchers, educators, and healthcare professionals of the future.

The Department’s research programs cover a diverse range of scientific domains.  Areas of particular strength include cell signaling and receptor biology, protein trafficking, DNA replication and repair, transcription, epigenetics and chromatin biology, translation, and protein and nucleic acid structure/function. These biochemical and molecular pathways are being interrogated in relation to their roles in disease processes such as cancer, neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease and developmental abnormalities.  The Department also coordinates several major areas of education, including the Biochemistry, Structural and Molecular Biology PhD program in the Jefferson College of Life Sciences and the training of medical students in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College.