Michael Chapman selected to chair Department of Biochemistry at the University of Missouri

Michael Chapman has been named chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Missouri, effective July 16, 2018.

Biochemistry is a joint academic unit within the School of Medicine and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) at MU. The department is noted for interdisciplinary research and effective instruction.

Chapman is the Richard T. Jones Professor of Structural Biology and interim chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Oregon Health and Science University. Before joining OHSU, he was a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to join a storied department that is unusual in its breadth from plant to medical biochemistry, and in its integration in missions of undergraduate, research and medical training,” Chapman said. “I look forward to building upon a history of research collaborations, with new initiatives that will further exploit natural associations not only within CAFNR and the School of Medicine, but expand further into the interfaces of Biochemistry with Engineering and Physical Science.” 

His most recent administrative experience includes serving as director of the Quantitative Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering Training Program at OHSU. At Florida State University, he served as director of the Center for Excellence: Biomolecular Computer Modeling and Simulation and as associate director of the Institute of Molecular Biophysics.

”I am pleased to have Dr. Chapman leading the Department of Biochemistry,” said Dr. Patrick Delafontaine, the Hugh E. and Sarah D. Stephenson Dean of the MU School of Medicine. “He brings a wealth of administrative and research experience to the role, and I’m confident he will continue the department’s tradition of excellence.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Chapman as the next director of our division of biochemistry,” said CAFNR Vice Chancellor and Dean Christopher Daubert. “A great quality of Mizzou is the strength of its interdisciplinary programs. As a shared unit between CAFNR and the MU School of Medicine, Dr. Chapman and our division of biochemistry are well matched to prepare scientists and build programs that will connect our food to the health and well-being of our citizenry.”

Chapman is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His research uses a variety of biophysical and other methods to examine structural biology of viral/host interactions and enzyme dynamics.

He has served as chair of the Gordon Research Conference: Diffraction Methods in Structural Biology, and for the National Institutes of Health on Macromolecular Structure and Function panels and chairing reviews of National Centers.

Chapman is currently principal investigator on the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award, “Adeno-Associated Virus Gene Therapy Vectors: Molecular Interactions on Cell Entry.” Chapman’s research on this topic has been published in Nature, among other journals.

He received a doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles. He earned a master’s degree from University of London, Birkbeck College.