ODU prides itself on research. Students get to work in a host of cutting-edge interdisciplinary labs. If you’re looking for a faculty expert or mentor in chemistry or biochemistry, then we invite you to learn more about ODU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty researchers who are leading scientific development in numerous areas.
Research Disiplines
The Zhu research group at ODU conducts field observations and laboratory experiments to measure concentrations of climate-relevant chemical species and investigate their production and loss through various biogeochemical pathways. We also use modeling to predict biogeochemical fluxes in natural environments. Student researchers engage in collaborative field campaigns, perform laboratory experiments, and develop models with remote sensing data.
The Purcell lab is focused on ribonucleotide signals called alarmones that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics and other stresses. We use a variety of genetic, biochemical, and biophysical techniques to study the enzymes that make alarmones as well as the bacterial processes that alarmones govern. By understanding the mechanisms of bacterial resilience, we want to contribute to the development of new, more powerful, antibiotics.
The Zhu research group at ODU conducts field observations and laboratory experiments to measure concentrations of climate-relevant chemical species and investigate their production and loss through various biogeochemical pathways. We also use modeling to predict biogeochemical fluxes in natural environments. Student researchers engage in collaborative field campaigns, perform laboratory experiments, and develop models with remote sensing data.
The Ramjee group is broadly interested in the interfacial area of nanomaterials, supramolecular chemistry and organic synthesis. Our research involves synthesis of organic and inorganic nanomaterials and their functionalization towards applications in sensing, guest encapsulation, imaging and (electro)catalysis among others. A unifying theme connecting most of our projects is the use of macrocyclic resorcinarene cavitand based multidentate building blocks or ligands.
Bender Lab:
The Bender lab focuses on organometallic chemistry and synthesis. Our interest in catalysis ranges from preparing new polymeric materials to developing new methods to break and make new bonds. To accomplish these goals, our lab focuses heavily on mechanistic studies to develop more reactive, selective, and robust catalysts.
Wang Lab:
The Wang group’ research interests are in the areas of organic synthesis, carbohydrate chemistry and medicinal chemistry. These include the design, synthesis, and analysis of carbohydrate derivatives for advanced functional materials and their applications for drug delivery and environment remediations; photochromic molecular switches for smart materials and tunable molecular assemblies; and the synthesis and analysis of natural product derivatives as anticancer and antiviral agents.
The Pascal laboratory develops and applies structural biology procedures to systems with medical implications. Our systems of interest include the replication machinery of picornaviruses, and the Par-4 tumor suppressor. Our methodologies include a state-of-the-art combined NMR/SAXS/computational approach to characterize both RNA structure and the conformational flexibility of partially disordered proteins.
