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Caltech CCE: Where Discovery Meets Impact
Caltech's Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (CCE) is globally recognized for pioneering research that advances fundamental understanding and transforms industries. From uncovering molecular mechanisms in biology to designing sustainable chemical processes and next-generation materials, CCE researchers tackle society's most pressing challenges with bold ideas and interdisciplinary collaboration. Their breakthroughs power innovation in energy, medicine, climate science, and technology—cementing Caltech's role as a leader in chemical science and engineering. This vital research is made possible through generous support from federal agencies, private foundations, industry partners, and individual philanthropy.
Explore Our Graduate Programs
The chemistry program at Caltech provides depth in the traditional areas of chemistry—organic and inorganic chemistry, chemical physics, theoretical chemistry, and chemical biology. Major initiatives are fostering broad collaborations in energy and environment, molecular medicine, and nanomaterials.
Started as applied chemistry by Arthur Amos Noyes, the department led the famous Project 37 of the American Petroleum Institute that provided much of the basic knowledge on thermodynamics and phase equilibria in hydrocarbon systems.
Biochemistry research in CCE integrates chemistry, biology, and physics to reveal the molecular principles underlying life. Researchers investigate enzyme catalysis, nucleic acid regulation, protein folding and interactions, membrane protein function, signaling networks, and energy transduction, employing tools such as structural biology, chemical biology, and biophysical assays.
Faculty Spotlight
- Professor of Chemistry
Hosea M. Nelson
The Nelson Lab is a multidisciplinary research group focused on developing next generation tools for organic chemistry. This goal is pursued through two primary research areas: organic synthesis and structural chemistry.
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Scott Cushing
Scott's research focuses on developing new, laser-based instrumentation for chemistry, physics, biology, and materials problems. Currently, Scott's group is developing a table-top transient x-ray technique, high-flux entangled photon spectroscopy, and few-femtosecond, driven-lattice experiments.
- Bren Professor of Chemistry; Norman Davidson Leadership Chair, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Sarah Reisman
The goal of the Reisman Group is to contribute creative solutions to fundamental problems in chemistry that impact society. Their research is driven by discoveries and innovations in organic chemistry, where new chemical reactions or synthetic design concepts can enable the synthesis of small molecules for the study and treatment of human disease.
- Professor of Chemistry
Sandeep Sharma
The Sharma group works on developing new theoretical and computational algorithms to understand challenging chemical and physical systems. This includes the development of new theories to simulate strongly correlated systems, efficient implementation of these theories and simulation of challenging gas and condensed phase systems.
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry; Investigator, Heritage Medical Research Institute; Ronald and JoAnn Willens Scholar
Lu Wei
Research in the Wei group lies at the interface of optical spectroscopy, chemical biology and life science. They develop cutting-edge optical spectroscopy and microscopy, in combination with new advances in chemical biology. We apply these new schemes to understand the dynamical physical and chemical processes in living systems.
- Bren Professor of Chemistry; Director of the Rudolph A. Marcus Center for Theoretical Chemistry
Garnet Chan
Garnet Chan's research lies at the interface of theoretical chemistry, condensed matter physics, and quantum information theory, and is concerned with quantum many-particle phenomena and the numerical methods to simulate them. The aim is to understand physical systems at the boundaries of accessible computational complexity, and to devise new physical simulation methods to push these boundaries forward.
- Professor of Chemistry
Ryan Hadt
Research in the Hadt laboratory is broadly based in the area of physical inorganic chemistry. The group employs a range of steady state and time-resolved spectroscopies to understand the roles of transition metal electronic structure across interdisciplinary areas of chemistry, biology, and physics.
- John Stauffer Professor of Chemistry; Executive Officer of Chemistry
Theo Agapie
Research in the Agapie group focuses on designing new materials and catalysts for sustainable technologies, inspired by nature’s complex inorganic and organic cofactors. These systems drive key reactions such as water splitting, carbon dioxide and dinitrogen reduction, and oxygen activation—processes essential for advancing energy and environmental sustainability.
- Milton and Rosalind Chang Professor of Chemistry
Linda C. Hsieh-Wilson
The Hsieh-Wilson lab pioneered the application of organic chemistry to understand the roles of carbohydrates and protein glycosylation in the brain. The lab uses the tools of organic synthesis, biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, biophysics and neurobiology to manipulate and understand small molecules, proteins and molecular interactions critical for neuronal communication, development, learning and memory.
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Johannes Morstein
The Morstien Lab is a chemical biology lab integrating methods of organic chemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology. Some of the techniques that they heavily rely on are synthesis, high throughput screening, lipidomics, proteomics, and confocal imaging. The lab uses chemistry to make fundamental discoveries in biology and to develop new therapeutic approaches.
- Ethel Wilson Bowles and Robert Bowles Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Merkin Institute Professor; Director of the Jacobs Institute for Molecular Engineering for Medicine
Rustem Ismagilov
The Ismagilov Group combines creativity, science, and technology to tackle global health challenges. Their research focuses on how microbes interact with the human body—ranging from infections to beneficial colonization. To study these complex systems, they develop advanced technologies for high-resolution measurements and computational analyses.
- Chevron Professor of Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering
John F. Brady
The Brady group's research interests are in fluid mechanics and transport processes, with a special interest in problems at the interface between continuum mechanics and statistical mechanics – focusing on fundamental studies of complex fluids.
- Max Delbrück Professor of Chemical Engineering and Medical Engineering; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Director, Center for Molecular and Cellular Medicine
Mikhail Shapiro
The Shapiro group develops molecular technologies for noninvasive imaging and control of cellular function, and uses these technologies to study basic biology and create cellular diagnostics and therapeutics.
- Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor of Chemical Engineering
Julia A. Kornfield
The Kornfield group aims to uncover how the molecular-level structure and behavior of polymers give rise to their wide range of macroscopic properties. The ultimate performance of these materials depends not only on their chemical makeup but also on their physical organization. The group’s research focuses on understanding these structural and dynamic features of macromolecules and connecting them to the bulk properties observed in polymeric materials.
- Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry; Director, Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center
Frances Arnold
The Arnold lab pioneered methods to direct the evolution of enzymes, and continue to refine and develop new approaches to protein engineering. Their most recent efforts combine directed evolution, simulation, and machine learning to optimize enzymes and create new ones. The lab applies its techniques to an array of important problems in biocatalysis, from pharmaceutical synthesis to biofuels to sensors and diagnostics.
- Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
Kara Fong
The Fong Research Group integrates simulation and theory to study sustainable electrochemical systems. They seek to answer fundamental questions related to transport and thermodynamics in electrolyte solutions and at electrochemical interfaces. They hope to drive improvements in energy storage technologies as well as water treatment processes.
- Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry
Karthish Manthiram
The Manthiram Lab is developing a synthetic paradigm in which carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water can be converted into a wide range of chemicals and materials using renewable electricity.
- Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biophysics
Sujt Datta
The Datta lab's research is in the area of transport processes, which aims to predict and control the movement of physical entities such as molecules and cells. In particular, motivated by challenges in biotechnology, energy, medicine, and sustainability, the lab studies the transport of soft ("squishy") and living systems—specifically, "complex" fluids, gels, and microbes—through complex environments ranging from soils, sediments, and porous rocks to gels and tissues in our bodies.
- Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
Gözde Demirer
The research in the Demirer lab focuses on three main areas: developing nanoparticles that can efficiently deliver biomolecule cargoes into plants, making genetic engineering tools more effective and precise in plants, and figuring out ways to harness beneficial interactions between plants and the microbes that live in and around them.
- Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering
Zhen-Gang Wang
The Wang Group uses statistical mechanics to study a host of problems in the interdisciplinary areas of physical chemistry, material science and biophysics. Current research projects include nucleation phenomena in the phase transformation of complex fluids, dynamics of topologically constrained polymers, structure and dynamics of physical gels, charge solvation effects on the thermodynamics of polymer blends and block copolymers, viral DNA/RNA packaging, and membrane biophysics.
- Altair Professor of Chemistry
Shu-ou Shan
The Shan lab integrates the approach of mechanistic enzymology with biophysical tools, including fluorescence spectroscopy, single molecule fluorescence microscopy, NMR, EPR, and cryo-EM, to decipher the molecular basis of diverse protein biogenesis pathways. ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ
- Mary and Charles Ferkel Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
André Hoelz
The Hoelz lab carries out structure-function studies of the nuclear pore complex with the ultimate goal of elucidating the atomic structure of the NPC. The applied structure determination as well as the described design principles of the NPC may serve as paradigms for other macromolecular assemblies. ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
- Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry; Merkin Institute Professor
Stephen Mayo
The focus of the Mayo lab is the coupling of theoretical, computational, and experimental techniques for the study of structural biology. In particular, they have placed a major emphasis on developing quantitative methods for protein design with the goal of developing a fully systematic design strategy called "protein design automation." ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ
- Arthur and Marian Hanisch Memorial Professor of Biochemistry
William M. (Bil) Clemons
Using approaches like X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, biochemistry, and mass spectrometry, the Clemons lab seeks to resolve protein structures and interactions at the atomic level, providing fundamental insights into membrane protein assembly and function with broad implications for biology and drug discovery. ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ
- Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
Isaac Fianu
Using biochemistry, structural biology (especially cryo-EM), and related methods, the research in the Fianu lab aims to uncover how gene regulation works in health and disease. Ultimately, the goal is to understand the spatiotemporal control of gene expression and the coordination of genome-related processes—knowledge that may lead to new therapeutic strategies. ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ
- Professor of Chemistry and Biology
Judith Campbell
The Campbell lab investigates how cells accurately replicate and repair their DNA to maintain genome stability. Her team focuses on the molecular mechanisms that process Okazaki fragments and resolve DNA replication stress, especially the roles of enzymes like DNA2 helicase/nuclease. Their work reveals how defects in these pathways contribute to genome instability and cancer, offering insight into potential therapeutic targets. ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry; Ronald and JoAnne Willens Scholar
Shasha Chong
Research in the Chong lab interfaces between chemistry, physics, and biology to tackle the molecular mechanisms of fundamental cellular processes. They are interested in intrinsically disordered regions, which compose nearly half of the eukaryotic proteome and perform critical functions in numerous cellular processes without forming stable protein structures. ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤ
- Assistant Professor of Biochemistry; Ronald and JoAnne Willens Scholar
Daniel Semlow
The Semlow lab is interested in understanding the origin and repair of DNA damage. They use biochemical and genetic approaches to uncover mechanisms that enable cells to tolerate and repair DNA damage. The lab is also developing analytical tools to explore the DNA adductome and identify sources of genome instability. Their work provides new insights into the processes that drive cancer, aging, and human genetic diseases. ㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ
- Roscoe Gilkey Dickinson Professor of Chemistry; Executive Officer for Biochemistry
Doug Rees
The Rees group's research centers on the structures and mechanisms of complex metalloproteins and integral membrane proteins, particularly those involved in ATP-dependent transduction processes. The metalloprotein work defined the unusual structures of the nitrogenase FeMo-cofactor and the more widespread Mo-cofactor that participate in basic reactions of the biological nitrogen and sulfur cycles, while the membrane protein studies addressed the structural basis of photosynthesis, mechanosensation and ATP dependent transport processes.