Skip to main content



Computational and Systems Biology

Under the umbrella of Computational and Systems Biology, many research groups within CBE are pioneering research in areas such as:

  • Protein conformational studies
  • Biological network fragility
  • Synthetic biology

Much of the research conducted in these areas has direct applications in:

  • Identifying targets for pharmaceutical and therapeutic development for cancer and cardiovascular diseases
  • Stem cell differentiation and programming
  • Modeling synthetic pathways for bottom up design of novel biological function

The Role of Chemical Engineers

 Typical Projects

  • Construction of statistical mechanical models for the analysis of folding and adsorption phenomena of proteins and DNA interacting with surfaces
  • Modeling the differentiation program of the stem cell HL-60 to develop new therapies using more complicated stem cells.
  • Cancer and cardiovascular network analysis
  • Pharmacokinetic modeling
  • Modeling gene expression networks and biophysical models of RNA folding.

Research Area Faculty

  Name Department Contact
pqc1.jpg Clancy, Paulette
Samuel W. and M. Diane Bodman Professor in Chemical Engineering
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 362 Olin Hall
607 255-7713
fe13.jpg Escobedo, Fernando A.
Marjorie L. Hart Professor of Engineering
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 120 Olin Hall
607 255-8243
jl564.jpg Lucks, Julius B.
James C. and Rebecca Q. Morgan Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 214 Olin Hall
607 255-3601
jdv27.jpg Varner, Jeffrey D.
Associate Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 244 Olin Hall
607 255-4258