Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology

The Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology serves physical and computer science students who are interested in applying their knowledge to biology, as well as students with a biological background interested in instrumentation, computation, and physical aspects of biology. The cooperation and cross-training of scientists with engineering, physical sciences, and life sciences backgrounds has infused biology with powerful technologies and exciting new paradigms. Close interactions between theory and experiments have led to fundamental advances in our understanding of the physical basis of life. Now biology is undergoing a transformation with application of modern computational methods and advanced experimental tools to solve problems of unprecedented complexity.

The Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology is interdisciplinary, consisting of over 40 faculty members who have their home departments in Biochemistry, Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Computer Engineering, Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Microbiology, and the Medical School. The Center serves as the interface between faculty research programs in experimental biophysics and quantitative and computational biology, with common interests in elucidating the physical basis of biological phenomena. The graduate degree program of the Center offers training in all aspects of this rapidly growing area.

Stephen Sligar

Cancer Center biochemist celebrates 40 Years at Illinois

Stephen G. Sligar has spent the last 40 years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign applying his expertise in membrane proteins and his nanodisc technology to better understand biological pathways and address diseases including cancer.
Black and white photo of Eugene Rabinowitch

New Rabinowitch Lecture Series honors pioneering UIUC biophysicist

The Departments of Biochemistry and Plant Biology are pleased to announce the creation of the Rabinowitch Lecture Series, which will feature guest speakers who have made key achievements in the two fields.
Satish Nair

Unassailable Strength

The Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology was established in 1996 and has always made its home in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology. The original idea of the center was proposed back in 1978 when Antony Crofts was recruited from the University of Bristol and appointed to lead...
Govindjee stands next to a plaque outside titled "Understanding Photosynthesis."

Emeritus professor Govindjee delivers 2022 Anton Lang Lecture

Congratulations to Govindjee, University of Illinois professor emeritus of biophysics, biochemistry, and plant biology, who delivered the 2022 Anton Lang Lecture at Michigan State University this spring.
Defne Gorgun Ozgulbas poses for headshot in Beckman Institute.

PhD student named a Beckman Institute Graduate Fellow

The Beckman Institute has announced seven University of Illinois students as 2022 Beckman Institute Graduate Fellows, including MCB PhD student Defne Gorgun Ozgulbas from the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology.
Pill capsules in blue and white

Scientists discover how antibiotics penetrate Gram-negative bacterial cell walls

In a study reported in the journal Chemical Science, researchers developed a new method to determine how antibiotics with specific chemical properties thread their way through tiny pores in the otherwise impenetrable cell envelopes of Gram-negative bacteria.
Headshot of Kai Zhang

Light can trigger key signaling pathway for embryonic development, cancer

Blue light is illuminating new understanding of a key signaling pathway in embryo development, tissue maintenance, and cancer genesis.
emad-tajkhorshid-2019.jpg

Prof. Emad Tajkhorshid has been awarded the 2020 Thomas E. Thompson award

Emad Tajkhorshid(Biochemistry) has been awarded the 2020 Thomas E. Thompson award for his seminal contributions to advancing our understanding of membrane structure and function.
NairSatishweb2.jpg

Satish Nair named I.C. Gunsalus Professor in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Nair, a professor of biochemistry in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology and director of the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, is a leader in studying how bacteria can make antibiotics and other medicinally relevant molecules.
In Memorium: Klaus Schulten

In Memorium: Klaus Schulten

“Klaus Schulten was a giant amongst giants, a true pioneer, As a physicist, he made significant advances in the core programming and hardware needed to advance computational modeling of biological systems... His passing is indeed a loss to the entire scientific community.”