Faculty
The Department of Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) at the University of California at Berkeley offers outstanding opportunities for scientific training in a highly interactive environment that enables doctoral students to pursue any of a wide range of modern fields of biological research. The Department of Molecular and Cell Biology is organized into five divisions and includes over 90 faculty.
The divisional organization offers the advantages of mid-sized, thematically focused, scientific groupings within the larger, more diverse academic environment in molecular and cell biology. The common purpose of the divisions is to foster and maintain a closely knit, stimulating and active community for study. The department is also part of a much more extensive biological sciences community at Berkeley. Often, faculty maintain affiliations with multiple divisions, as well as other graduate programs and institutes at Berkeley. These affiliations are included in the table below. Clicking on a faculty member's name will take you to their lab website. You can click on column headings to sort.
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BBS - Biochemistry, Biophysics & Structural Biology | ![]() |
CDB - Cell & Developmental Biology | ![]() |
GGD - Genetics, Genomics & Developmental | ![]() |
IMM - Immunology & Pathogenesis | ![]() |
NEU - Neurobiology |
Name | Title | Divisions | Roles | Keywords |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hillel Adesnik | Associate Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Dynamics of neural circuits underlying information processing in the cerebral cortex. | |
Georjana Barnes | Judy Chandler Webb Endowed Chair and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | GSI Advisor | Microtubule cytoskeleton and cell cycle controls |
Greg Barton | Class of ’36 Endowed Chair and Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Division Head | Innate immune system |
Helen Bateup | Associate Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | GAC Member, Year 1 & 2 Adv | Molecular mechanisms of synapse and circuit plasticity |
Diana Bautista | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Equity Advisor | Molecular mechanisms of transduction in touch and pain receptors |
Robert Beatty | Lecturer of Immunology | IMP | GSI Advisor | Infectious disease immunology |
Eric Betzig | Howard Hughes Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Development of new tools for imaging and image analysis to enable biological discovery | |
David Bilder | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | GAC Member (spring) | Genetics of cell and tissue architecture |
Michael Botchan | Dean of Biological Sciences Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Dean | Eukaryote DNA replication and control of S phase |
Gloria Brar | Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Regulation of meiotic translation, the roles of pervasive short translation products, and the co-option of stress responses for cellular differentiation through meiosis | |
Steven E. Brenner | Professor (Affiliated) of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Computational Genomics | |
Stephen Brohawn | Assistant Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Molecular basis of sensory transduction and cellular electrical signaling | |
Carlos Bustamante | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Raymond and Beverly Sackler Chair and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Structural characterization of nucleo-protein assemblies | |
Jamie H. D. Cate | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Molecular Basis for Protein Synthesis by the Ribosome | |
Christopher Chang | Class of 1942 Chair and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Deciphering roles for metals and redox signals in neurobiology, metabolism, and cancer enabled by activity-based sensing and related chemical technologies | |
Michelle Chang | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Enzyme catalysis and metabolic engineering | |
Kathleen Collins | Walter and Ruth Schubert Family Chair, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Division Head | Biology, biochemistry, and biotechnology of retroelements, retroelement reverse transcriptases, and functional RNAs |
Laurent Coscoy | Associate Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Year 1 Advisor | Molecular mechanisms of immune evasion in viral infection |
Jeffery Cox | C.H. Li Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Endocrinology, Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and immune evasion in mycobacteria | |
Yang Dan | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | GSI Advisor | Information processed by neuronal circuits |
Xavier Darzacq | Associate Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Year 2 Advisor | Transcription regulation during cellular differentiation |
Karen Davies | Assistant Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Structural biogenesis of mitochondria and carbon concentrating mechanisms | |
Abby Dernburg | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Chromosome organization and dynamics during meiosis | |
Andrew Dillin | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Thomas and Stacey Siebel Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Biology and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | GAC Member | My laboratory works on the genetic and molecular mechanisms that regulate aging and aging-related disease. |
Jennifer A. Doudna | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | RNA-mediated gene regulation | |
David G. Drubin | Department Co-Chair and Ernette Comby Chair in Microbiology Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Co-Chair | Actin and microtubule cytoskeletons in yeast and mammalian cells |
Peter Duesberg | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | The cancer karyotype: What it is and what it does | |
Michel DuPage | Assistant Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Epigenetic control of the functional plasticity of T cells in disease | |
Michael B. Eisen | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Genomics/Bioinformatics | |
Daniel Feldman | Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Division Head | Sensory processing and plasticity in cerebral cortex |
Marla Feller | Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | The development and function of retinal circuits | |
Gary Firestone | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Molecular endocrinology; tumor biology | |
Yvette Fisher | Assistant Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Flexibility of neural circuits for navigation | |
John G. Flannery | Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Molecular mechanisms underlying diseases of the retina | |
Daniel A. Fletcher | Professor (Affiliated) of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Mechanics and dynamics of cell movements on the purified protein, single cell, and tissue levels | |
Hernan G. Garcia | Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Physical biology. Transcriptional regulation. Development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster | |
Gian Garriga | Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Developmental neurobiology; molecular genetics | |
Britt Glaunsinger | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Virology; messenger RNA processing and degradation | |
Andrea Gomez | Assistant Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Instructive cues for neural form and function | |
Iswar Hariharan | Department Co-Chair and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Co-Chair | Mechanisms of control of growth and cell proliferation. Regulation of regenerative growth. |
Richard Harland | Senior Associate Dean of Biological Sciences, C.H. Li Distinguished Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Exec. Dean | Molecular biology of development |
Lin He | Associate Professor and Thomas and Stacey Siebel Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Research Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Year 1 Advisor (spring) | microRNA functions in cancer development, mouse tumor models |
Rebecca Heald | Flora Lamson Hewlett Chair and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Mitotic spindle assembly and function in Xenopus laevis | |
Dirk Hockemeyer | Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Telomere biology of human stem cells | |
James Hurley | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | GAC Member (spring) | Structural membrane biology |
Nicholas Ingolia | Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Molecular basis and physiological roles of the Translational control of gene expression through global and genome-wide analyses | |
Ehud Isacoff | Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Ion channel function and synaptic plasticity | |
Na Ji | Associate Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Development of microscopy methods for clearer, deeper, and faster in vivo tissue imaging | |
Gary Karpen | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Year 2 Advisor, GSI Advisor, GAC Member (fall) | Chromosome structure and function |
Nicole King | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Choanoflagellates, animal origins, and the evolution of host-microbe interactions | |
David Kirn | Adjunct Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | ||
Arash Komeili | Professor (Affiliated) of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Assembly and Subcellular Organization of Bacterial Organelles | |
Doug Koshland | Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Chair in the Biological Sciences & Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Mechanisms and principles that mediate desiccation tolerance and the structure, integrity, and evolution of chromosomes | |
Richard H. Kramer | CH and Annie Li Chair in Molecular Biology of Diseases and Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Chemical signaling within and between neurons | |
John Kuriyan | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Chancellor's Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Structural and functional studies of signal transduction and DNA replication | |
Stephan Lammel | Assistant Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Organization and function of neural circuits | |
Liana Lareau | Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | ||
Samantha Lewis | Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Mitochondrial biology; mitochondrial genome integrity in health and disease | |
Polina Lishko | Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Cell biology of mammalian fertilization | |
Ellen Lumpkin | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | ||
Kunxin Luo | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Year 1 Advisor (fall) | Signal transduction pathways mediated by receptors and the mechanisms controlling the activity of the receptor kinases |
Michael Marletta | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Structure/Function Relationships in Proteins; Enzyme Catalysis; Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Signaling | |
Susan Marqusee | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Determinants of protein structure and folding | |
Megan Martik | Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | ||
Andreas Martin | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Energy-dependent proteases and molecular machines | |
Sabeeha Merchant | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Biochemistry of metals; photosynthesis and bioenergy; genomics of algae | |
Barbara Meyer | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Year 1 Advisor | Sex determination in C. elegans |
Craig T. Miller | Associate Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Division Head | Developmental and evolutionary genetics |
Evan Miller | Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Year 2 Advisor | Chemical biology, neuroscience, organic chemistry, fluorescence, imaging |
Priya Moorjani | Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Human Population Genetics and Evolutionary Biology | |
Dipti Nayak | Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Physiology and evolution of archaea; biochemistry of methanogenesis; genome editing tools for archaeal genetics | |
Eva Nogales | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Structure-function of macromolecular assemblies: cytoskeleton self-assembly and nucleic acid transactions | |
Daniel K. Nomura | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Using chemoproteomic platforms for drug discovery against the undruggable proteome and incurable diseases | |
James Olzmann | Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Regulation of cellular lipid homeostasis: lipid droplets, lipotoxicity, and ferroptosis | |
Eunyong Park | Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Structure and mechanism of membrane transport proteins; cryo-EM; biochemistry; biophysics | |
Daniel Portnoy | Edward E. Penhoet Distinguished Chair in Global Public Health and Infectious Diseases and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Year 1 Advisor | Molecular and cellular basis of microbial pathogenesis |
David Presti | Teaching Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Neurobiology | |
Michael Rape | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Protein ubiquitination, degradation and the control of cell division and differentiation | |
David Raulet | Esther and Wendy Schekman Chair in Basic Cancer Biology, and Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Innate immune responses to cancer and infections mediated by natural killer cells and T cells | |
Jasper Rine | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Gene regulation; cell biology | |
Donald Rio | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Molecular genetics; transposable elements; RNA splicing | |
Ellen Robey | Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Fate determination in the T-lymphocyte lineage | |
Henk Roelink | Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Induction in vertebrate development and ES cell differentiation | |
Daniel S. Rokhsar | Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Collective phenomena and ordering in condensed matter and biological systems | |
Kaoru Saijo | Assistant Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Nuclear Receptor-mediated regulation of Neuroinflammation | |
David Savage | Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | GAC Member (fall) | Synthetic biology and metabolism. |
David Schaffer | Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | Molecular investigations of stem cells and viral gene delivery | |
Randy Schekman | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Organelle assembly; protein transport | |
Alanna Schepartz | CZ and Irmgard Distinguished Chair of Chemistry, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Chemical and synthetic biology; how cellular molecules and machines function and how this information can be used to design new and useful molecules. | |
Kristin Scott | Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Processing gustatory information in the Drosophila brain | |
William Sha | Associate Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | B cell gene regulation and fate determination | |
Sarah A. Stanley | Associate Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | ||
Ian Swinburne | Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Multi-scale mechanisms of organ form and function | |
Mark Tanouye | Professor (Affiliated) of Neurobiology | NEU | Mechanisms of nervous system structure and function | |
Denis Titov | Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Metabolism and mechanisms of aging | |
Robert Tjian | Howard Hughes Medical Institute President and Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Eukaryotic molecular biology; biochemistry | |
Doris Tsao | Professor of Neurobiology | NEU | ||
Elçin Ünal | Associate Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Head Advisor | Molecular basis of cellular rejuvenation, gene regulation during cellular differentiation |
Srigokul Upadhyayula (Gokul) | Assistant Professor in Residence of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Multifunctional adaptive optical microscopy; 3D subcellular dynamics; computational tools for tera- to petabyte-scale projects. | |
Fyodor Urnov | Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Development | GGD | Engineered zinc finger DNA binding proteins | |
Russell Vance | Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | Host-pathogen interactions | |
David Weisblat | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Developmental biology | |
Matthew Welch | Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology | CDB | Division Head | Cytoskeletal function in cell migration, membrane trafficking and microbial pathogenesis |
Ross Wilson | Assistant Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic delivery of genome editing enzymes | |
Astar Winoto | Williams Endowed Chair and Professor of Immunology and Pathogenesis | IMP | GAC Member & Year 2 Adv | Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis and proliferation in T cells, cancer, host pathogen interaction and human stem cells. |
Ahmet Yildiz | Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Structural mechanism of molecular motors. High resolution imaging of subcellular structures | |
Qiang Zhou | Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Year 1 & 2 Advisor | Biochemistry of HIV gene expression and transcriptional elongation |
Roberto Zoncu | Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology | BBS | Year 2 Advisor | How organelles sense nutrients and regulate cellular growth |