GWU Biophysics Group

Experimental Biophysics Group

The experimental biophysics and condensed-matter group currently consists of faculty members Mark Reeves and Jasper Nijdam, post-doc Joan Hoffmann and students Shuogang Huang, Jianwei Sun, Hesham Zakaria, Kachi Odeomene, Jessica Schmitt, and Ben Gamari. The group features expertise in scanning probe-based near-field microscopy and micro- and nanofabrication. These techniques are being applied to the study of electronic materials, biomaterials, and to problems in cellular biological physics. Our expertise allows our students to study structural linkages in proteins and crystalline systems, and to study biological and electronic functionality through sub-wavelength length-scale probes of the electromagnetic response of materials. Collaborations with federal laboratories (NRL, ORNL, NIH) and with faculty in chemistry, biology, and in the medical school allow us to address a wide array of research questions. New approaches to investigating protein functionality are being developed, based on the electronic and optical response of self assembled nanoparticle systems.

The condensed matter faculty have collaborations with faculty in the Biology and Chemistry Departments, the GW Medical School, with the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe , with the University of Florida and with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which provides our students access to expertise and equipment unavailable at most universities and many opportunities for interesting research projects.

Theoretical Biophysics Group

The theoretical biophysics group currently consists of faculty member Chen Zeng, Weiqun Peng, and Guanyu Wang. Aiming to unravel the underlying principles of complex biological processes, our current research efforts range from modeling the physical interactions at atomic level to study structural and functional properties of protein-protein and protein-DNA complex to simulating biomolecular networks at the systems level to gain a global perspective on their emergent spatial and temporal dynamics. This multi-scale-integrated approach also aids our attempt in quantifying the impact of evolution at all scales from a single key enzyme or regulator to an entire enzymatic or regulatory pathway. To find out more, please visit the theoretical biophysics group's webpage.