The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) is an integral part of the School of Medicine and the Graduate School at KU Medical Center. Lectures and laboratory experiences are offered for students pursuing M.S., Ph.D., and M.D./Ph.D. degrees. Postdoctoral research scientists and visiting faculty members also contribute to the departmental activities.
Department News
November 2025
- Aria Triska (Roelofs lab) was awarded a 2026 Biomedical Research Training Program (BRTP) Fellowship
- Peyton Oden (Freudenthal lab) was awarded the 1st place Best Oral Presentation at the 2025 Midwest DNA Repair Symposium.
- Eli Newcomb (Freudenthal lab) was awarded the 1st place Best Early Career Investigator Oral Presentation at the 2025 EMGS Annual Meeting.
- Abbey Vito (Freudenthal lab) was awarded the 1st place Best Student Oral Presentation at the 2025 EMGS Annual Meeting.
- Spencer Thompson (Freudenthal lab) was awarded the 2nd place Best Student Poster at the 2025 EMGS Annual Meeting.
October 2025
- Dr. Chad Slawson received an R01 from NIH/National Institute on Aging entitled “O-GlcNac homeostasis regulates mitochondrial function in Alzheimer’s Disease”
September 2025
- At the 39th Annual Symposium of the Protein Society, the organizing committee recognized Dr. Shwetha Sreenivasan (Swint-Kruse lab) for delivering the Best Flash Talk. Her talk was entitled “Dissecting the effects of single amino acid substitutions on SARS-CoV-2 Mpro." This recognition highlights both the importance of Dr. Srenivasan’s work and the enthusiastic reception it received from the broader protein science community.
August 2025
- Dr. Christy Hagan is a project leader on a recently awarded NIH/NCI P01 entitled “Advancing Hormone Therapy for Endometrial Cancer.” This is the first ever P01 at KU Medical Center.
July 2025
- A publication coauthored by Drs. Chad Slawson, Russ Swerdlow, and Heather Wilkins describing their work on Alzheimer’s disease was highlighted recently in Nature: One potent gene raises risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other brain diseases
May 2025
- The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is pleased to welcome Dr. Prakash Kharel as its newest Assistant Professor. Dr. Kharel earned his PhD in Biochemistry from Kent State University in Ohio and held a post-doctoral position at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The focus of his research is to elucidate the role of RNA secondary structures—particularly non-canonical structures known as G-quadruplexes (G4s)—in cellular biology and disease pathogenesis, with a focus on neurodegenerative disease.
- Dr. Bret Freudenthal will be promoted to Professor on July 1, 2025.
- Dr. Joe Fontes was recognized as one of the Founding Members for the Association of Biochemistry Educators.
April 2025
- Spencer Thompson (Freudenthal Lab) won the Newmark Award, which is given to a senior KU student for excellence in biochemistry research.
- Kaitlin DeHart (Freudenthal Lab) took first place in her Oral section at the Student Research Forum.
- Peyton Oden (Freudenthal Lab) earned the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Kimmel award for her Student Research Forum presentation.
March 2025
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Shwetha Sreenivasan (Swint-Kruse lab) and Spencer Thompson (Freudenthal lab) were finalists for the Newmark Award in Biochemistry and presented their research at KU-Lawrence Molecular Biosciences on March 31.
January 2025
- Drs. Joe Fontes, Chad Slawson, and Stephen Parnell won Outstanding lecturer awards for their work with medical students and were honored at the Grand Affair.
- Peyton Oden (Freudenthal lab) was awarded a 2025 Biomedical Research Training Program (BRTP) Fellowship.
- Amanda Heard (Hagan Lab) was awarded a 2025 Biomedical Research Training Program (BRTP) Fellowship.