Yann Chemla

Professor Yann Chemla is a distinguished faculty member in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, holding the position of Professor of Physics and Biophysics. He also serves as the Associate Head for Undergraduate Program in the department. His research is affiliated with the NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology and he previously served as co-Director of the NSF Physics Frontiers Center (PFC) the "Center for the Physics of Living Cells" (CPLC) from 2015 to 2022.

Dr. Chemla's educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley (2001)
• B.S. in Physics from Yale University

Professor Chemla's research focuses on understanding mechanical processes in biological systems at the molecular level. His lab studies how proteins interact with DNA - bending, wrapping, or translocating along the molecule - as well as how cells swim and process environmental information. The Chemla group develops and utilizes state-of-the-art biophysical techniques such as optical tweezers and fluorescence microscopy to detect these processes at the single-molecule or single-cell level, avoiding averaging artifacts of traditional ensemble methods. His lab has pioneered high-resolution optical tweezers capable of detecting Ångström-scale motions of proteins on DNA and combined optical trap-fluorescence microscopy to investigate conformational dynamics in DNA processing machines. Recent work has extended these approaches to study protein condensate fusion, intracellular cargo transport, and bacterial swimming dynamics.

Analysis of Prof. Chemla's recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on single-molecule biophysics with applications spanning DNA-protein interactions, molecular motor mechanics, bacterial behavior, and neurodegenerative disease mechanisms. His work consistently combines innovative instrumentation development with biological discovery, particularly in the areas of DNA helicases, bacterial chemotaxis, and protein aggregation dynamics.

Professor Chemla has received numerous prestigious awards recognizing his research excellence:

• American Physical Society Fellow (2020)
• Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, University of Illinois (2016)
• Willett Faculty Scholar Award (2015)
• Center for Advanced Study (2012)
• Sloan Research Fellowship (2010)
• NSF CAREER Award (2009)
• Career Awards at the Scientific Interface from Burroughs-Wellcome Fund (2005)
• Arnold T. Nordsieck Award for teaching (2022)

Professor Chemla has mentored numerous graduate students and postdocs who have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. His research has been consistently supported by major funding agencies including the National Science Foundation (through the CAREER award, Physics Frontiers Center, and Science and Technology Center), National Institutes of Health, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The Chemla lab operates from Loomis Laboratory at UIUC, where they design and build state-of-the-art instrumentation for single-molecule biophysics research. Current projects include developing new methodologies for high-resolution optical trapping and applying these techniques to investigate DNA-protein interactions, bacterial motility, and protein aggregation phenomena.