Announcing the Establishment of the Center for Translational Chemical Biology (CTCB)

We are pleased to announce the establishment of the Center for Translational Chemical Biology (CTCB) in the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), to be directed by Ronen Marmorstein PhD and Mark Sellmyer MD, PhD. The CTCB, a joint effort between the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and the Department of Radiology, will expand and accelerate research that combines the chemical and biological sciences to advance basic and clinical biomedical research and translational medicine.

Chemical Biology can reveal new molecular insights into macromolecules and their complexes with proteins, nucleic acids and/or small molecule compounds, probe molecular and biological activities at the individual or systems level, and develop new diagnostics and treatments for various diseases. The CTCB will nucleate outstanding investigators with diverse areas of scientific and clinical expertise across the Penn campus to leverage the unique strengths of Chemical Biology to impact basic biomedical research and develop therapeutics and imaging agents for use in clinical research and practice. The Center will place an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, enabling biophysical technologies, and translational relevance in developing innovations for human application. These efforts will be facilitated by focused research meetings, sponsored seminars and symposia, and pilot project awards. The Center will also coordinate with the ongoing activities of the Penn NIH-funded Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) training program. The overall goals of the CTCB are to expand and accelerate Chemical Biology-related research efforts to bring about new diagnostics and treatments for patients.

Dr. Ronen Marmorstein is the George W. Raiziss Professor and Vice-Chair in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), Adjunct Professor of Chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences and Director of the University of Pennsylvania CBI training program. Dr. Marmorstein’s lab uses basic structural and biochemical research tools to study the molecular mechanism of protein complexes that mediate acetyl-CoA metabolism, epigenetics and kinase signaling. His work has led to the development of small molecule chemical probes and inhibitors for protein acetyltransferases and kinases. Dr. Sellmyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology in PSOM with a secondary appointment in Biochemistry and Biophysics in PSOM and a trainer on the CBI training program. Dr. Sellmyer’s lab conducts research at the interface of synthetic chemistry, synthetic biology, and chemical biology to develop translational imaging and molecular control systems. His work has led to radiotracers for imaging bacterial infection and engineered cells in patients, small molecule technologies for detecting and controlling cell-cell interactions, and chemical switches to control therapeutic protein expression.

Please join us in congratulating Drs. Marmorstein and Sellmyer in the establishment of the CTCB, which will increase the footprint of Penn in interdisciplinary Chemical Biology research with impact on fundamental science and clinical diagnosis and care.

Kristen W Lynch, PhD

Benjamin Rush Professor and Chair, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics

David Mankoff, MD, PhD

Matthew J. Wilson Professor and Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Radiology