Dr. Ciro Cecconi is an Associate Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia , affiliated with the Department of Physical, Computer and Mathematical Sciences (formerly the Physics Campus). His academic work spans biophysics, medical physics, and interdisciplinary education, with courses in biological physics, biochemistry, and physiology for biomedical degrees. His research focuses on biological physics (e.g., lipid bilayer mechanics, protein folding, cellular thermodynamics) and medical physics (e.g., X-ray applications, hemodynamics). Teaching modules emphasize applied physics in pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and physiotherapy, with laboratory components in advanced biophysics courses. Key themes include intermolecular forces , mechanobiology , and statistical fluctuations in biological systems. He employs English texts in teaching to foster international learning.
Rina Ibragimova is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Aalto University, affiliated with the DAS Group in the Chemistry and Materials domain. Her research focuses on computational materials science, particularly the development and application of machine learning interatomic potentials for modeling hydrocarbons and MXenes. Her work spans surface functionalization, defect analysis, and electronic properties of 2D materials. Recent publications highlight collaborations with leading researchers in the field, emphasizing experiment-driven atomistic modeling and theoretical studies of MXene stability and structure. Key trends in her research include combining spectroscopic data (XPS) with machine learning for precise structure inference, investigating pH-dependent functionalization in MXenes, and exploring electron beam effects on 2D materials. Her publications appear in high-impact journals like ACS Nano , Nature Communications , and Physical Review B .
Dr. Freddy Rabouw is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science, affiliated with the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science. His research focuses on energy, charge, and mass transport in nanostructured materials, with applications in sustainability, catalysis, and photonics. Expertise: Spectroscopy, Nanomaterials, Quantum Materials Soft Condensed Matter research sub-unit He employs time-resolved optical microscopy/spectroscopy and mathematical modeling to study individual nanocrystals and catalyst systems. Recent work includes: Energy-transfer pathways in rare-earth-doped materials Single-nanocrystal property variations Molecular diffusion in heterogeneous catalysts His 15 most recent publications span quantum dots, luminescence thermometry, and catalysis, emphasizing energy transfer mechanisms and operando analysis of dynamic systems. Media coverage includes articles in Trouw and Het Parool about quantum cutting and nanocrystal-based light generation.
Dr. Arnold Boersma is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science (Cellular Protein Chemistry department) and Associate Scientist at DWI-Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials in Germany. His academic trajectory includes a PhD cum laude from the University of Groningen, postdoctoral research at Oxford University, and leadership roles at Groningen's Biochemistry Institute. Research focuses on macromolecular crowding effects in cellular environments, developing innovative protein-based sensors to study molecular organization. Key interests include protein self-association dynamics, intracellular crowding mechanisms, and biomolecular condensates. Recent investigations examine how crowding influences protein homeostasis, cellular aging, and bacterial cellular functions. Publications demonstrate consistent focus on biophysical characterization techniques , with evolving work in artificial cell engineering and advanced spectroscopy methods. Articles frequently explore crowding sensor development, phase separation phenomena, and biomimetic systems using microfluidic platforms. Scientific Recognition: Fellow of Max Planck School 'Matter to Life' (2021-2023) NWO Vidi Grant (2016-2018) NWO Veni Grant (2012-2015) NWO Rubicon Fellowship (2009-2012) PhD cum laude (Top 5%) Leads research teams at Utrecht University and collaborates internationally through the Boersma Lab, focusing on crowding effects in biological systems and artificial cell development.
Steven K. Lower is a Professor at The Ohio State University with appointments spanning the School of Environment and Natural Resources, School of Earth Sciences, and Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity. His interdisciplinary research bridges environmental science, earth sciences, and medical microbiology, focusing on the molecular interactions between microorganisms and mineral surfaces. Dr. Lower's educational background includes a B.S. in Biology & Geology, an M.S. in Environmental Chemistry from Kent State University, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology & Mineralogy from Virginia Tech. His career path took him from an Assistant Professor position at the University of Maryland (2001-2003) to his current professorship at Ohio State University (2003-present). His research interests center on environmental mineralogy and chemistry, geological and environmental microbiology, and medical microbiology. Dr. Lower specializes in studying how bacteria interact with mineral surfaces at the nanoscale, with particular focus on magnetotactic bacteria that orient along Earth's magnetic field and pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus that form biofilms on medical implants. His laboratory employs atomic force microscopy and other nanoscale techniques to measure the fundamental forces governing these interactions. Analysis of Dr. Lower's recent publications reveals a strong interdisciplinary trend spanning environmental science, medical microbiology, and biophysics. His work connects fundamental physical principles with practical applications in environmental remediation and medical device safety. The research consistently applies nanoscale measurement techniques to understand bacterial behavior in both natural and clinical settings, with particular attention to how bacteria form aggregates and adhere to surfaces. Dr. Lower's scientific achievements have been recognized with several prestigious awards: National Science Foundation CAREER Award PECASE Award (presented by President Obama at the White House) Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences Department of Energy (DOE) Best Research Award Clinical Research Forum Outstanding Research Award As a principal investigator, Dr. Lower has secured research funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Department of Energy (DOE). His laboratory maintains active collaborations across disciplines, particularly with his brother Brian H. Lower, and focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of bacterial adhesion to both natural mineral surfaces and medical implants. The research has significant implications for developing strategies to prevent bacterial infections on medical devices and understanding microbial processes in environmental systems.
Periklis Pantazis is an Associate Professor at Imperial College London's Department of Bioengineering and Director of the Imperial College London & LEICA Microsystems Imaging Hub. His work focuses on advanced optical imaging technologies for mechanistic analysis of biological systems and clinical applications. Imperial College London, Faculty of Engineering Education: Biochemistry from Leibniz University of Hannover, PhD in Biology/Bioengineering from Max Planck Institute, postdoctoral training at Caltech, and Assistant Professorship at ETH Zurich. Research interests span Developmental Biology , Stem Cell Biology , Optical Physics , and Mechanobiology , with emphasis on live imaging and quantitative analysis. His lab pioneered primed conversion for 3D photoconversion, GenEPi for Piezo1 imaging, and bioharmonophores for biodegradable probes. Recent articles highlight Biomedical Imaging innovations, including Photoconversion , Light-sheet Microscopy , and SHG Nanoprobes . These works bridge Nanotechnology and Precision Medicine . Scientific Awards: Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2018/2019) The lab has secured 14 active and 11 pending patents in imaging technologies, with affiliations to networks like the CRUK Convergence Science Centre , Cancer Technology Network , and Organ-on-chip Network of Excellence .
Professor Robert Pal is a physical chemist at Durham University, specializing in lanthanide-based sensors, molecular nanomachines, and chiroptical imaging technologies. His research bridges organic chemistry, biophysics, and optical instrumentation, with significant contributions to Circularly Polarized Luminescence (CPL) spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy. He holds a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society and serves as Technical Director of FScan Ltd, a university spin-out commercializing lanthanide-based prostate cancer detection methods. Research Focus: CPL bioimaging, molecular nanomachines for targeted therapy, and optical spectroscopy. Key Innovations: Developed first CPL laser scanning confocal microscope (2022) and all-solid-state SS-CPL spectrometer (2020). Scientific Contributions: His work on molecular nanomachines (Nature 2017) demonstrated light-activated cell membrane disruption for cancer therapy. Current efforts aim to advance two-photon CPL imaging and near-infrared-activated nanomachines. Scientific Awards: 2022 Director of Space and Infrastructure 2019 Chair of Public Engagement & Ethics (Durham Chemistry) 2018 Royal Society University Research Fellowship 2017 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize judge Outreach: National public engagement champion, including Science Museum Lates and Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. Supervision: Mentors students and researchers such as Connor Armstrong, Laura Duncan, and Paolo Mastroeni. His lab collaborates extensively on bioimaging, photodynamic therapy, and nanoparticle synthesis.
Dr. John Sanderson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Durham University. His research spans biophysical chemistry, biological membranes, and protein-membrane interactions, with a focus on membrane-active peptides and lipids. He is a committee member of the British Biophysical Society and a member of the Biophysical Society (US) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC). Key Research Areas: Biophysical Chemistry, Biological Membranes, Protein-Membrane Interactions, Membrane Reactivity, Chemical Biology, Amino Acid and Peptide Synthesis, Drug-Lipid Interactions, Spectroscopy and Microscopy Techniques. Dr. Sanderson's work investigates the intrinsic reactivity of membrane lipids and their interactions with peptides, proteins, and small molecules. Recent studies include the discovery of acyl transfer reactions in lipid membranes and the development of the "amyloid lipidation hypothesis," linking lipidation to neurodegenerative diseases. His group also explores antimicrobial peptides and their clinical applications. Recent publications highlight trends in membrane reactivity, lipid-peptide interactions, and their implications in cell biology and disease. Notable works include studies on foliar amino acid biostimulants, lipidation of aquaporin-0, and the design of peptides for membrane poration. Scientific Contributions: Committee member, British Biophysical Society (2000) Member, Biophysical Society (US) and Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) Dr. Sanderson's group has secured funding from an EPSRC Programme Grant to study protein-membrane interactions. He supervises research students including Beth Henderson, Eoin Kearney, and Yufeng Liu, and collaborates with colleagues like Prof. R. A. Quinlan and Dr. R. P. Yeo. Labs & Teams: Sanderson Group, Department of Chemistry, Durham University
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz is a Research Professor leading the Lippincott-Schwartz Lab at the Janelia Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her laboratory focuses on understanding how diverse cell types comprising organs operate individually and interdependently to enable organ development, remodeling, healing, and computation. The lab employs cutting-edge fluorescence-based microscopy technologies to study subcellular organelle organization and trafficking pathways across different spatial scales. Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz's research centers on the dynamic interplay between membrane-bound organelles, membrane-less organelles, cytoskeletal structures, and metabolism in relation to cell type-specific organization and function. Her work spans multiple scales, from investigating fundamental cellular behaviors like cell crawling, surface polarization, cell-cell fusion, cytokinesis, viral budding, and intercellular transfer to understanding how these processes contribute to organ-level functions. She has pioneered numerous imaging techniques, particularly in the development and application of fluorescent protein technologies. The publication record reveals a consistent focus on advancing microscopy techniques and applying them to fundamental cell biological questions. Early work established foundational principles in fluorescent protein technology, while more recent publications demonstrate sophisticated applications of super-resolution microscopy, single-particle tracking, and correlative light-electron microscopy to study organelle dynamics, cytoskeletal organization, and cellular signaling. There is a clear trajectory from method development to increasingly complex biological applications, with recent work exploring neuronal calcium signaling, mitochondrial dynamics, and intermediate filament organization. Dr. Lippincott-Schwartz leads an interdisciplinary, international team comprising experts in cell biology, physics, chemistry, mathematical modeling, engineering, and computer science. Her lab actively collaborates with other Janelia research groups and project teams, reflecting the highly collaborative nature of modern cell biological research. The lab maintains strong connections with the Johns Hopkins University graduate program, participating in the joint Janelia/Johns Hopkins graduate program and hosting students through the Janelia summer undergraduate program.
Claire A. West is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2024–present), previously holding a Royal Society: Newton International Fellowship at the University of Cambridge (2022–2024). Her research focuses on photothermal response of nanoparticles, plasmonics, and hot carrier dynamics, utilizing refractive index perturbation-based microscopies and spectroscopies. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemistry (2024–current) University of Cambridge: Newton International Fellow (2022–2024) Research Interests: • Measuring and modeling photothermal response of light-absorbing nanoparticles • Plasmon hybridization and decay dynamics • Machine learning applications in nanomaterial analysis • Surface electrochemistry and thermal near-field control Scientific Awards: Royal Society: Newton International Fellow Education: • Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, University of Washington (2021) • B.S. in Physics, University of California Santa Barbara (2016) Article Trends: Her publications span plasmonics, nanotechnology, and machine learning, with recent work emphasizing hot carrier dynamics, gold nanorod dissolution, and adaptive modeling of nanoparticle morphology. Laboratory Affiliation: Member of the Link Research Group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, collaborating with the Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory.
Robert Dickson is the Vasser Woolley Professor of Chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research group develops advanced spectroscopic, statistical, and imaging technologies for studying biological dynamics in medicine and nanoscale systems. The lab specializes in novel nanomaterials , particularly noble metal quantum dots for ultrasensitive imaging, and optically modulatable fluorescent proteins for background-free biological visualization. Their work has been recognized through multiple awards including the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award and NSF CAREER Award . Education: B.A. from Haverford College (1991), Ph.D. from University of Chicago (1996) Affiliation: Georgia Tech College of Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Research Interests span three major areas: Nanomaterials for Imaging : Developing ultrabright biodegradable Ag/Au nanoclusters with ligand-tunable emission from blue to near-infrared, utilizing dark states for optical modulation and background suppression Optical Modulation Imaging : Engineering fluorescent proteins with controllable dark states for enhanced sensitivity in live cell imaging, enabling discrimination of bound vs. diffusing species and quantitative protein interaction studies Bioinformatics for Diagnostics : Creating adaptive multidimensional statistical metrics to reduce antibiotic susceptibility testing time from 48 hours to 4 hours, with ongoing work to shorten blood culture steps to 10-hour total treatment identification Scientific Awards include Vasser Woolley Chaired Professor Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow National Science Foundation CAREER Award Senior Editor, Journal of Physical Chemistry
Rongkun Zheng is a Professor at the School of Physics, University of Sydney, specializing in Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. His research focuses on growth-structure-property relationships in functional materials using advanced microscopy techniques like atom probe tomography and transmission electron microscopy. Research areas: Nanotechnology, Halide Perovskites, Energy Materials, Nanomagnetism, Microscopy Associated with The Net Zero Institute and The University of Sydney Nano Institute His work explores strain-engineered semiconductors, perovskite solar cells, and quantum materials. Recent projects include Atomic-scale understanding of perovskite instability and In-situ STEM investigation of photocatalysis . He leads PhD opportunities in Direct Epitaxy of Halide Perovskites and Atomic-scale degradation analysis . Scientific honors include the 2011 Sawamura Award (Japan), Australian Research Fellowship (2007-2011), and 1994 Chinese Physics Olympiad First-class Award. He has supervised 19 PhD/MPhil students since 2008, including Li Li (ANU), Jiangtao Qu (USYD), and Hansheng Chen (USYD).
Julia A. Kornfield is the Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor of Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology , where she has been a faculty member since 1990. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular-level structure and dynamics of polymers and supramolecular liquids to predict and design their macroscopic properties for applications in materials science, biomedical engineering, and sustainable technologies. Education: BS (1983), MS (1984) from Caltech; PhD (1988) from Stanford University Academic Roles: Assistant Professor (1990-95), Associate Professor (1995-2001), Professor (2001-present) Her work bridges fundamental polymer physics with practical applications, including: Development of living bacterial films with tunable mechanical properties Advancing temperature-sensitive materials for biomedical and photonic applications Innovating anion exchange membrane adsorbers for bioprocessing Exploring cyclic polymers and disulfide elastomers using R3P polymerization Investigating CO₂ solubility in polyether polyols for environmental engineering She contributes to education through courses like: ChE 103 abc - Transport Phenomena (1990-present) ChE/ESE/ME/MS 111 - Sustainable Engineering (2022-23)
Professor Ashley Cadby is a faculty member in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sheffield, holding the position of Professor of Soft Matter Physics within the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Her research focuses on cutting-edge imaging techniques applied to biological systems. Her research interests center on Soft Matter Physics , High-resolution Imaging , and Nano-science , with particular emphasis on super-resolution microscopy techniques applied to biological systems. Her work bridges physics, biology, and nanotechnology to investigate cellular structures and processes at unprecedented resolution. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on developing and applying advanced imaging methodologies, particularly super-resolution and correlative microscopy techniques. Her research spans bacterial cell wall architecture, sperm biology, protein dynamics, and nanoscale biological structures, demonstrating interdisciplinary applications across microbiology, reproductive biology, and cellular biophysics. Professor Cadby contributes to teaching through undergraduate courses including PHY 101 Tutorials, PHY 113/114 Computing Laboratory, PHY 245 Materials, and specialized courses in Bio-Physics (PHY 411/412) and Mechanistic Biology (PHY 6120). As Biological Safety Officer and member of the IOP Nano-science group and PARC consortium, she maintains active professional engagement. She leads the Biological Physics Group research team, focusing on innovative imaging approaches to solve complex biological problems through physical methodologies.
Megan Madonna is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2020. She teaches multiple Bass Connections research teams (ISS 796T/795T/396T/395T) focused on Information, Society & Culture, alongside engineering project courses including BME 493/494, BME 462L, BME 791, and EGR 393. Her research centers on optical metabolic imaging to investigate cancer metabolism, particularly in breast cancer subtypes. She develops advanced multi-probe and multi-scale imaging platforms capable of simultaneously quantifying metabolic and vascular endpoints such as fatty acid uptake, mitochondrial activity, and oxygen saturation in vivo. Her work specifically targets chemoresistance mechanisms in triple-negative and Her2+ breast cancer, identifying metabolic vulnerabilities during residual disease and recurrence. Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a consistent focus on translating optical imaging techniques into clinical applications for cancer therapy guidance. Her work demonstrates strong interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly with Dr. Nimmi Ramanujam's lab, and spans from fundamental metabolic imaging development to clinical implications for chemotherapy monitoring. Dr. Madonna actively mentors students through graduate independent study (BME 791) and capstone projects (BME 493/494), while leading interdisciplinary Bass Connections teams that integrate engineering with societal considerations. She contributes to Duke's Global Women's Health Technologies ecosystem through her editorial work on gender-specific biomedical research.
