LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Trisha N. Davis

Welcome to the Department of Biochemistry. This is a very exciting time for our department. We are launching the Institute for Protein Design with David Baker at the helm and collaborating with other departments to build a cryo electron microscopy group at the UW. Biochemistry already has two microscopes in place and we have a faculty search in progress to hire a faculty member in this area. Suzanne Hoppins from UC Davis will join our department with a focus on understanding the molecular basis of mitochondrial diseases and we will continue to hire new outstanding faculty for several years to come.

Through the generosity of the Washington Research Foundation and the School of Medicine, we recently established the Edmond H. Fischer- Washington Research Foundation Endowed Chair in Biochemistry. This is the second endowed chair in the department, the first being the Zymogenetics – Earl W. Davie Endowed Chair. These endowments recognize not only the past accomplishments of the department, but our promising future.

Our specific research interests are diverse and include neurotransmission, vision, embryonic development, stem cells, protein homeostasis, cell division, tropical diseases and protein design. However, our overall goals are the same: to provide a molecular description of biology using a wide range of molecular approaches from structural analysis to biochemistry to molecular genetics. Simply put, we are all biochemists with a shared desire to understand the chemistry of life.

Thank you for your interest in our department and research.