Overview
Biological physics; polymer and other soft condensed matter physics; x-ray and synchrotron radiation science; scientific instrumentation and technique development; development of novel x-ray detectors
Research Focus
My research is aimed at understanding the structure and properties of proteins, lyotropic liquid crystals, block co-polymers and mesoporous composites. Examples include the effects of pressure on protein assemblies, the synthesis and properties of polymer-based nanocomposites, the interaction between membrane proteins and lipid bilayers, and techniques to determine protein structure from microcrystals. The work is diverse and is characterized by collaborations with biologically- and chemically-oriented scientists, the development of new instrumentation and techniques, especially as involves x-rays and synchrotron radiation. I also believe that physicists are tool makers and, in consequence, everyone in the group is involved in instrumentation and technique development as applied to the materials listed, above. Oversight of the group is shared with Prof. Julia Thom-Levy.
Research Associates and technical staff associated with the group
Nick Brown, Marty Novak, Mark Tate
Graduate Students
Co-advised with Prof. Uli Wiesner or Prof. Julia Thom-Levy: Lena Franklin, Divya Gadkari, Sixuan Li, William Moore, Fei Yu
Publications
Publications may be found at http://bigbro.biophys.cornell.edu/publications/.