Molecular Biophysics

Molecular Biophysics is an exciting interdisciplinary research area. Georgia Tech has a vibrant, interactive biophysics research faculty and state–of–the–art instrumentation. Biophysics research projects at Georgia Tech involve investigations of macromolecular structure, function, and catalysis. A wide variety of approaches, including spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, microscopy, single molecule techniques, and computation are employed.

Molecular Biophysics Faculty

Ed Balog (Applied Physiology)
Studies of intracellular ion channels known as ryanodine receptors (RyRs). These proteins are the primary efflux pathway for the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum

Gang Bao (Biomedical Engrg., Mechanical Engrg.)
Structural and mechanical properties of DNA, RNA and proteins under stretching, twisting, bending and shearing conditions.

Bridgette Barry (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Biological electron transfer, membrane biophysics, vibrational spectroscopy, EPR spectroscopy, photosynthesis.

Jennifer Curtis (Physics)
Investigation of the structure, mechanics and function of the pericellular coat and hyaluronan-protein macromolecular assemblies; and the mechanics of phagocytosis using biophysical and nanopatterning tools.

Robert M. Dickson (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Development of high brightness, robust Au and Ag nanoclusters as a new class of in vivo fluorescent and Raman labels and testing them in living cells to reveal individual protein dynamics within the living system.

Mostafa A. El-Sayed (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Nanoscience: synthesis and study of the properties of nanomaterial of different shapes:, nanotechnology: potential use of nanoparticles in: a) nanomedicine: diagnostics and selective photothermal therapy of cancer, b) nanocatalysis: shape dependence in cage effects.

Christoph J. Fahrni (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Development and application of cation-selective fluorescent sensors for biophotonics. Study of metal-ion distribution and subcellular localization in live cells using two-photon excitation microscopy and SCRF microscopy.

Facundo Fernandez (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
The development of novel bioanalytical mass spectrometric techniques to solve complex proteomic and biomedical scientific questions.

Andrés Garcia (Biomedical Engrg., Mechanical Engrg.)
Interests focus on the contributions of focal adhesion assembly (size, position, composition) to cell adhesion strengthening.

Stephen Harvey (Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry)
Investigation of relationships between macromolecular structure, dynamics and function, using computer-based modeling methods. Systems under investigation include proteins, nucleic acids, as well as lipoproteins and protein-nucleic acid complexes and viruses.

Rigoberto Hernandez (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Analytic and computational approaches in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics to understand the structure and dynamics within and between proteins.

Nicholas V. Hud (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Elucidating the fundamental chemical and physical principles that govern nucleic acid assembly, and the development of novel ways to control this assembly in vitro.

Nils Kröger (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Biochemical and cell biological analysis of biological formation of nanopatterned SiO2 structures; bio-enabled synthesis of functional (e.g., catalytic, optically active) organic-inorganic hybrid materials.

Raquel L. Lieberman (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Protein crystallography, enzymology, biophysics, chemical biology and in silico modeling to elucidate the structure, function and mechanism of enzymes that perform hydrolysis reactions in an unusual chemical environment: within or at the surface of the lipid bilayer of a cell.

L. Andrew Lyon (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Understanding the molecular design rules that govern the interface between biomacromolecules and synthetic hydrogels for a range of application in controlled and targeted delivery of therapeutic agents.

Nael McCarty (Emory School of Medicine, Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry)
The McCarty lab uses biophysical approaches to understand the structure, function, and regulation of plasma membrane ion channels and receptors.

Toan Nguyen (Physics)
Virus assembly, geometry and elasticity of viral capsids, RNA and DNA condensation and packaging inside viruses, electrostatics of soft and biomaterial.

Christine Payne (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Development and use of fluorescence microscopy to image the synthesis and degradation of proteins within the cell.

Joseph Perry (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Understanding how the chemical structures of molecules and materials relate to their electronic and optical properties.

Ingeborg Schmidt-Krey (Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Eukaryotic membrane protein structure and function, cryo-EM, electron crystallography.

Jeffrey Skolnick (Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Computational biology.

C. David Sherrill (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Quantum models of molecular recognition.

Todd Sulchek (Mechanical Engrg.)
Bioengineering and microelectromechanical systems: atomic force microscopy, pathogen adhesion and endocytosis, cell biomechanics, single molecule biophysics, drug delivery and targeting, cell membrane mimetics, biosensors.

Roger Wartell (Biology)
RNA based regulation of gene expression. RNA-protein interaction. Thermodynamics of DNA and RNA structural motifs. Factors governing RNA structural transitions and function.

Loren D. Williams (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
Experimental and informatic approaches to determining and characterizing nucleic acids, and the forces that govern the structures.

Evan Zamir (Mechanical Engrg.)
Bioengineering; biomechanics, morphogenesis, cell motility, developmental biology, gastrulation.

Cheng Zhu (Biomedical Engrg., Mechanical Engrg.)
Biomechanics of cell adhesion and signaling molecules of the immune.