Chemical and Bioanalytical Sciences

[Biological Chemistry and Macromolecular Biophysics (BCMB) Integrated Review Group]]

[ F04A Roster ]

F04A reviews fellowship applications covering the chemistry of biologically and medicinally important molecules. This includes the synthesis, isolation and structural determination of small molecules as well as the chemistry of drug discovery and biological processes; structure-function relationships of enzymes and metalloproteins by kinetic and substrate analog studies; characterization of the chemistry of biologically relevant macromolecules including biopolymers and biomaterials; and development of analytical instrumentation and biosensors. Examples of specific areas covered are listed below.

• Chemical synthesis of therapeutic, pharmacological, biological, or biochemical compounds
• Development and optimization of synthetic reactions, including analysis of reaction mechanisms and kinetics
• Biosynthetic or biomimetic synthesis of natural products, including design of enzyme substrates or inhibitors
• Isolation, structural determination, and chemical synthesis of complex natural products
• Enzyme mechanism studies, including mutagenesis, analyses of transient and transition states, and steady state kinetics
• Bioinorganic chemistry, including synthesis and properties of coordination compounds and their thermodynamics, kinetics and structures
• Function and mechanism of metalloproteins, including their spectroscopic characterization
• Analytical and clinical chemistry, including fabrication methods for biomaterials and biosensor development and development of mass spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis, microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, and other microfabicated devices
• RNA enzymology, including catalytic RNA and ribozymes

With F04B (Biophysical and Biochemical Sciences):  Fellowship applications concerned with structure determination by X-ray crystallographic or NMR spectroscopic methods may be assigned to F04B; fellowship applications concerned with analysis of mechanism by inhibitor or kinetics studies related to the characterization of structure-function relationships of enzymes may be assigned to F04A.

With F05 (Cell Biology and Development) :  Fellowship applications concerned with the effects on cellular function or enzyme mechanism and interaction may be assigned to F05; fellowship applications that are concerned with the mechanism of an enzyme or a system of enzymes may be assigned to F04A.

With F09 (Oncological Sciences): Fellowship applications that focus on the efficacy and safety of anticancer compounds or the properties of cancer specific proteins, lipids, and related compounds may be assigned to F09; fellowship applications that focus on developing and synthesizing new and different compounds or with the physical chemistry and structure of proteins, lipids, and other biopolymers may be assigned to F04A or B.

With F13 (Infectious Diseases and Microbiology): Fellowship applications that focus on structure-activity relationships in antimicrobial therapeutic agents may be assigned to either F13 or F04A; fellowship applications concerned with chemical syntheses of antimicrobial therapeutic agents may be assigned to F04A

With F14 (Technology Development): Fellowship applications that are concerned primarily with the development of new methods, instrumentation, or technology for use in studies of biologically and medicinally important molecules may be assigned to F14; fellowship applications that are concerned primarily with elucidating the chemical principles of biologically and medicinally important molecules may be assigned to F04A.

With F15 (Bioengineering and Imaging): Fellowship applications addressing the development of diagnostic agents for imaging may be assigned to F15.  Fellowship applications that address the synthesis, isolation and structural determination of small molecules for drug delivery, structure-function relationships of enzymes and metalloproteins, characterization of biologically relevant macromolecules including biopolymers and biomaterials, or the development of analytical instrumentation or biosensors may be assigned to F04A.