UW-Madison Integrated Program in Biochemistry

Ross Soens will defend his thesis today, Friday, December 5 at 1:00 p.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building. His research in the C**n Lab explored post-translational modifications to proteins in mammalian cells. Learn more about his research and his time in graduate school:

IPiB Thesis Defense December 5, 2025: Ross Soens Soens’s research in the C**n Lab explored post-translational modifications to proteins in mammalian cells.

David Rivera-Kohr will defend his thesis today, Tuesday, November 25 at 1:00 p.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building. His research in the Fox Lab explored biochemical mechanisms to degrade and repurpose waste products. Learn more about his research and his time in graduate school:

IPiB Thesis Defense November 25, 2025: David Rivera-Kohr Rivera-Kohr’s research in the Fox Lab explored biochemical mechanisms to degrade and repurpose waste products.

Rohith Rajasekaran will defend his thesis today, Friday, November 21 at 2:00 p.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building. His research in the Coyle Lab explored how to repurpose naturally-existing cellular systems to engineer new functions into cells. Learn more about his research and her time in graduate school:

IPiB Thesis Defense November 21, 2025: Rohith Rajasekaran Rajasekaran’s research in the Coyle Lab explored how to repurpose naturally-existing cellular systems to engineer new functions into cells.

Research from the Lim Lab, published in Science, could provide patients and their doctors with new protein mutations to test for certain cancers and bone marrow diseases.
“This line of research goes beyond a biochemical understanding of a molecular process. It deepens clinical understanding of telomere diseases,” says Lim.

Researchers Link Mutations in RPA Protein to Cancer, Other Diseases Researchers in the Lim Lab reveal that dysfunction in a protein essential to maintaining stability in our chromosomes may be responsible for serious diseases.

Haley Bridge will defend her thesis today, Tuesday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building. Her research in the Weeks Lab sought to develop a tool for site-specific modification of peptides. Learn more about her research and her time in graduate school:

IPiB Thesis Defense October 10, 2025: Haley Bridge Bridge’s research in the Weeks Lab sought to develop a tool for site-specific modification of peptides.

Welcome to our newest cohort of IPiB students! If you see any new faces in the coming weeks, please take a moment to introduce yourself.

We are excited to welcome Wei Wei, who joined the department's faculty earlier this month. Learn more about Wei's work, which will explore how what we eat impacts our health.

New Faculty Profile: Wei Wei Wei, who joined the faculty in August 2025, will explore how what we eat impacts our health.

Under metabolic stress, our bodies break down energy stores, often in the form of lipids, to allow us to survive. Dysregulation of this process can result in disease such as cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders. Learn more about how researchers in the Simcox Lab identified an enzyme that helps to break down lipids that control energy expenditure:

Research In Brief: The What, Why, and How Researchers in the Simcox Lab identified an enzyme that helps to break down lipids that control energy expenditure.

Congrats to Rohith Rajasekaran of the Coyle Lab, who was awarded the Distinguished Graduate Fellowship by UW-Madison College of Agricultural & Life Sciences! The year-long fellowship will support his research into how to repurpose cellular systems that exist in nature to engineer new functions into cells.

Rohith Rajasekaran of the Coyle Lab is Awarded Distinguished Graduate Fellowship The year-long fellowship will support Rajasekaran's research into how to repurpose cellular systems that exist in nature to engineer new functions into cells.

Samridhi Garg will defend her thesis tomorrow, Tuesday, June 10 at 10:00 a.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building. Her research in the Senes Lab explored the structures of proteins responsible for cell division in bacteria. Learn more about her research, her entrepreneurial interests, and her time in graduate school:

IPiB Thesis Defense June 10, 2025: Samridhi Garg Garg’s research in the Senes Lab explored the structures of proteins responsible for cell division in bacteria.

Josh Choi will defend his thesis tomorrow, Thursday, June 5 at 1:00 p.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building. His research in the Senes Lab focused on how inter-membrane regions of transmembrane proteins associate with each other. Learn more about his research and his time in graduate school:

IPiB Thesis Defense June 5, 2025: Joshua Choi Choi’s research in the Senes Lab focused on how inter-membrane regions of transmembrane proteins associate with each other.

Join us for two thesis defense seminars on Monday! At 9:00 a.m. CT in Room 1211 of Hector F. DeLuca Biochemical Sciences Building, Erli Jin will discuss his research in the Merrins Lab examining the regulation of hormone secretion in pancreatic islet cells. At 10:15 a.m. CT in the same room, Andrea Hunger will discuss her research in the Simcox Lab exploring the regulation of a lipid that controls cell death and insulin signaling. Learn more about their research and their time in graduate school:

News and Events News & events from the UW–Madison Integrated Program in Biochemistry.