The interdisciplinary graduate program in Biophysics at Syracuse University was instituted in 1967. The change in the program's name to Structural Biology, Biochemistry & Biophysics was approved by the New York State Education Department in early 2000. Structural Biology is an emerging field that developed from Biochemistry and Biophysics. The SB3 Program's name retains all three themes to underscore the interdisciplinary nature of research aimed at determining 3D structures and at using structural insights to understand biomolecular processes.

The Program is now an interuniversity effort by virtue of its association with biochemical and biophysical researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and the SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry. The Program capitalizes on the proximity of our three institutions and the exciting developments that are certain to follow sequencing the genomes of humans and other animals and plants.