Each member of the department's faculty oversees a research programme, many of which are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Faculty engage in local collaborations with researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and the Universities of Wisconsin as well as national collaborations with faculty at other universities and researchers at national laboratories.

Recently funded projects include: