The Bradley lab is interested in i) identifying host proteins that are usurped by bacterial pathogens and ii) understanding how these interactions promote virulence. Specifically, we are studying protein exotoxins produced by Bacillus anthracis (the causative agent of anthrax), Campylobacter jejuni (the most common cause of bacterial diarrhea in the U.S.), Vibrio cholera (the causative agent of cholera), and Clostridium deficile (responsible for most hospital-acquired diarrhea). To better understand these interactions, our lab utilizes a number approaches including i) proteomics, ii) chemical genetics and iii) somatic cell genetics. We are also interested in developing therapeutics and detection systems for bacterial pathogens based on nanotechnology. To this end, we collaborate with a number of labs at UCLA and nationwide.
Dr. Bradley received a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from U.C. Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard Medical School. He has been a member of the UCLA faculty since 2002 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics. In addition, Dr. Bradley serves as Director for the Molecular Screening Shared Resource, a high-throughput screening facility that provides robotics for multiple applications including chemical genomics.

The research interests of the Mason Group include: (1) nanoemulsions: forming nanoscale dispersions of droplets of one liquid in another immiscible liquid through extreme shear, (2) microrheology: the study of the microscale deformation and flow of nanostructured synthetic and biological materials, (3) LithoParticles: structure of novel colloidal particles dispersed in a liquid solution, and (4) small angle neutron scattering as a probe of the structure of nanoscale hydrocarbon materials and dispersions. Our group thrives on interdisciplinary interactions, and we seek research areas that combine aspects of traditionally different fields.

Prof. Heather D. Maynard received a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology for research in the group of Nobel Prize winner Robert Grubbs. She then moved to the laboratory of Jeffrey Hubbell at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and University of Zurich, where from 2000-2002 she was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Maynard joined the UCLA faculty as an Assistant Professor in August 2002 as the first Howard Reiss Career Development Chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and as a member of the California Nanosystems Institute. Maynard is also a faculty affiliate in the Biomedical Engineering Interdepartmental Program, a member of the Center for Scalable and Integrated Nanomanufacturing, and a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. She is a faculty mentor in several training programs: the Chemistry-Biology Interface, the Materials Creation, the Nanotoxicology Research, and the Biotechnology Training Programs. For the latter she also serves as an executive committee member. Maynard develops new strategies to synthesize protein-polymer conjugates and polymeric drugs. She also creates polymer films for patterning and arraying oriented and bioactive proteins. For her research at UCLA, she has received several awards including the Amgen New Faculty Award, NSF Career Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and the Seaborg Award. She was also selected as an Outstanding Emerging Investigator in Materials Chemistry by the RSC. Maynard has given over eighty invited lectures including the WCC ACS Lecture at Southern Methodist University and the Plenary Lecture at the 9th Annual UNESCO/IUPAC Conference on Macromolecules in South Africa. Maynard has also been selected to participate in symposia sponsored by the US National Academy of Sciences and US National Academy of Engineering.

The Monbouquette group conducts research on biosensors, the biotechnological applications of extremely thermophilic microorganisms, protein nanocapsule technology, and on the molecular engineering of surfaces. The group is collaborating with a UCLA neuroscientist on the micromachining of biosensors for in vivo monitoring of neurotransmitter release and uptake. In other work, a reporter enzyme has been engineered to behave as a molecular switch for several sensing applications under exploration including the detection of environmental toxins and the high-throughput screening of drug candidates. Extremely thermophilic microbes are being investigated as a source of enzymes and metabolic pathways useful in specialty chemical synthesis and of highly stable lipids for potential applications in drug delivery and in biosensor design. The Monbouquette laboratory also is discovering conditions for the controlled opening and closing of naturally occurring protein nanocapsules, in collaboration with Prof. Rome's group, such that they may be useful in drug delivery or in the synthesis of nanomaterials. Finally, the group is pursuing development of a process for the creation of complex, userdefined surface patterns with ~2-3 nm feature size. This new nanopatterning concept is based on the use of electrophoretically mobile, photocatalytic nanoparticles as "pens" to draw nanopatterns on a photocatalytically reactive surface.

Professor Schmidt and his group have strong interests in single molecule biophysics and bioengineering, with a focus on biological membranes and membrane proteins: 1) creation of long-lived and robust biomimetic membranes; 2) singlemolecule transport measurements of membrane proteins; 3) construction of devices and apparatus for the manipulation and study of biomimetic membranes and membrane proteins. The techniques used to pursue these interests are highly multi-disciplinary, drawing on methods of genetic cloning and manipulation, biochemistry, micromachining, low-noise electronics, and microfluidics. The group aims to advance the science and technology of membrane proteins through the development of tools and techniques enabling other researchers to perform experiments previously impossible due to limitations in technology or expertise. The group also maintains a strong interest in technology development enabling more efficient drug discovery targeted toward membrane transport and channel proteins.

Dr. Ren Sun obtained his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University School of Medicine. He arrived at UCLA in 1998 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, and became an Associate Professor in 2003. Dr. Sun is a member of the Molecular Biology Institute, the AIDS Institute, the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Dental Research Institute and the California NanoSystems Institute. Dr. Sun studied tumor-associated herpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and murine herpesvirus-68(MHV-68). He identified the KSHV-encoded polyadenylated nuclear (PAN) RNA, which represents a new type of RNA, possessing features of both U snRNA and mRNA. Dr. Sun also identified the Replication and Transcription Activator (RTA) as the master switch protein that disrupts latency and initiates the lytic cycle. Dr. Sun's research accomplishments have been recognized by the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, which recently awarded Dr. Sun as the Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease in 2002.

Lily Wu is a biomedical research scientist focused on developing cancer-targeted therapy. Dr. Wu has been a faculty member of the Department of Urology since 1998, and she holds joint appointments in the Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology and the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Wu earned her B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Physiology at University of California, Berkeley in 1982. She graduated in 1989 as a member of the inaugural class of Medical Scientist Training Program (M.D., Ph.D program) at UCLA. Her current research topic of gene-based cancer therapy was initiated with the support of a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship for Physicians in 1994. Her diverse education training ranges from clinical disciplines of pediatrics and hematology/oncology to molecular and cellular fields such as adenovirus biology, transcription regulation, and gene therapy. Besides her research endeavors, a major part of her effort involves mentoring students at all levels, from undergraduates, graduate, postdoctoral fellows to clinical residents. Her diverse background creates a fertile ground for the interdisciplinary approaches she has taken in her research. Her main goal is to deliver safe, effective, and targeted treatment to cancer patients.