Dr. Maria Christina White's lab at the University of Illinois focuses on developing new chemical reactions that can modify complex molecules in efficient ways. By designing advanced metal catalysts, the team aims to enable late-stage functionalization in drug discovery, allowing for direct changes to drug structures without lengthy synthesis. This research is important for speeding up the creation of new therapeutics and exploring natural products as potential drug candidates.

Dr. Lisa Olshansky's lab focuses on understanding how structural changes in proteins can influence their functional properties, particularly in metalloenzymes. The research combines synthetic metal complexes with proteins that can change shape to create innovative models—called switchable artificial metalloproteins (swArMs)—to study these dynamics. This work aims to improve our understanding of enzyme behavior and ultimately develop new tools for biocatalysis, bioimaging, and energy conversion, all of which are crucial for human health.

Professor Martin D. Burke's lab at the University of Illinois focuses on innovative research in molecular prosthetics and automated synthesis of natural products. They aim to develop small molecules that can replace missing enzyme functions in humans, addressing diseases linked to enzyme deficiencies. Additionally, the lab is creating modular 'lego kits' for the automated synthesis of complex natural products like lipids and terpenoids, which have significant health and industrial applications.

Paul Hergenrother's lab focuses on developing new antibiotics to combat drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and on creating targeted cancer therapies. By understanding how drugs enter and exit bacterial cells, they aim to invent antibiotics that can effectively treat infections caused by difficult pathogens like E. coli. The lab also works on personalized cancer treatment by designing drugs that target specific abnormalities in cancer cells, advancing multiple promising drug candidates to clinical trials.