The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) graduate program provides students with training that enables them to challenge the traditional boundaries currently separating chemistry from biology. Upon completion of the program, CBI students receive a PhD in chemical biology.
Faculty members come from diverse departments such as:
- Chemistry, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Biology, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Pharmacology & Molecular Sciences, School of Medicine
- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering
- Materials Science and Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering
- Biophysics, Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, School of Medicine
- Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health
The nature of the program provides students with an expansive choice of faculty thesis advisers (preceptors), whose research spans the range of the chemistry-biology interface.
CBI coursework includes classes in chemistry and the biological, biochemical, and/or biomedical sciences. Students complete 10-week research rotations that enable them to make informed choices of research projects. In addition, participation in a weekly chemistry-biology forum helps students develop a comprehensive awareness of the field.
The CBI program formalizes a long-standing tradition of research at the Johns Hopkins University. We became one of approximately 20 CBI programs nationwide to receive support from the National Institutes of Health in the form of a predoctoral training grant. In addition, the Maryland Higher Education Commission approved a request to establish a PhD degree in chemical biology at Johns Hopkins, which recognizes the unique curriculum that CBI students complete.
Graduates of the CBI Program are scientists capable of interdisciplinary research, who approach both chemistry and biology from a more global and health-related perspective.
The average time to degree for the CBI program is six years. More than 60% of our students accepted postdoctoral positions after graduating in academics (Harvard, UPenn, ETH (Zurich), Max Planck (Freiburg)), industry (Bayer CropScience) and government (NIH, CFSAN). Other graduates found employment in industry (Rapafusyn Research and Development and Mars & Co. consulting) and government (Institute for Defense Analyses) directly after receiving their PhD. After completing post-doctoral appointments, former students of the CBI program have gained permanent employment in industry (Zymergen, Janssen BioTherapeutics, Mosaic Biosciences) and government (US Pharmacopeia, US Patent and Trademark Office, CSFAN).
See our program outcomes.