Drs. Jiayu Liao, Jin Nam and Giulia Palermo were all awarded promotions in 2023. Dr. Liao and Dr. Nam were both promoted to Professor. Dr. Palermo was promoted to Associate Professor. All three are pillars in the mission of the department.

As one of the founding faculty members of the department, Dr. Liao focuses on research in developing novel quantitative FRET(qFRET) technology for basic and translational research, host–virus interaction, inflammation, and diabetes.  Originally at Scripps Research Institute, he discovered the human sweet receptor genes. Before that, Dr. Liao joined the Genomic Institute of Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) as the Founding Scientist of the GPCR platform, where Dr. Liao led an HTS that resulted in the discovery of S1P1-specific agonist(SEW2871), subsequently leading to the FDA-approved drugs, ozanimod from BMS/Celgene/ Receptos and siponimod from Novartis. Professor Liao was the first to discover the orally available GLP1 small molecule agonist, the human sweet receptor and SUMOylation E3 ligase PIAS family.  Dr. Liao is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and his work has led to more than 5700 citations and 32 patents. In addition to his research, Dr. Liao remains critical in providing the expertise in teaching biotechnology that is vital for the preparation for both undergraduate and graduate students for rewarding careers in bioengineering.

Dr. Jin Nam, who joined UCR in 2011 does pioneering research focuses on advancing tissue repair through stem cell and tissue engineering techniques. Dr. Nam's laboratory specializes in utilizing multi-functional biomaterials to finely control stem cell niches, particularly within physical microenvironments. This innovative approach enables precise manipulation of stem cell behaviors, leading to functional gains such as differentiation into diverse cell types and the creation of multi-phenotypic cell tissues in three dimensions. Dr. Nam's impactful research is generously supported by various funding sources, including the NIH BRAIN initiative, NSF, and DoD. In addition to his research contributions, Dr. Nam serves as the director of the UC-KIMS Center for Innovative Materials, underscoring his commitment to advancing interdisciplinary research.

Dr. Palermo joined UCR in 2018. Her research focus is on applying and developing state-of-the-art computational methods to describe the biological function of protein/nucleic acid complexes and novel genome editing systems that are transforming our view of medicine, bioengineering and nanotechnology. She has a specific focus on emerging mechanistic questions arising from non-stop development and engineering of the CRISPR technology. Here she and her group employ classical and high-level quantum mechanical simulations, in combination with free energy methods, to ascertain the metal-dependent catalytic function of the Cas9 enzyme and its implications for genome editing. Dr. Palermo is also a recipient of the NSF career award, the Sloan Research Fellowship, and the ACS Women Chemistry Committee Rising Star Award.