Corey S. O'HernView profile
Professor
Corey S. O'Hern is a Professor at Yale University with appointments in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Physics, Applied Physics, and Computational Biology & Bioinformatics. His research spans soft matter physics, computational biology, and materials science, focusing on jamming transitions, protein structure, and granular mechanics. Education : Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, B.S. from Duke University. Research Interests : Statistical mechanics of nonequilibrium systems, glass and jamming transitions in soft matter, computational biology of protein structures, and mechanical design principles in biological and synthetic materials. His group uses theoretical and computational methods to study protein folding, jamming phenomena, and mechanical properties of cells and tissues. Article Trends : Recent publications highlight interdisciplinary work bridging soft matter physics and computational biology. Topics include protein folding as jamming transitions, FRET-assisted structural modeling, cancer invasion mechanics, and granular metamaterials with tunable properties, reflecting his focus on fundamental mechanics in biological and synthetic systems. Scientific Awards : Ackerman Teaching Award (2018) Fellow of the American Physical Society (2017) NSF Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation Award (2008) NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award (2005) Advising & Grants : He has advised students from Applied Physics, Chemistry, and Computational Biology. His group received NSF grants for studies on granular acoustics and computational biology, supported by Yale's MRSEC and FAS High Performance Computing Core. Labs & Teams : Leads the O'Hern Research Group and co-founded Yale's Integrated Graduate Program in Physical and Engineering Biology. Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams across Yale's Physical and Life Sciences, including the Sackler Institute and MRSEC.










