Christy Landes

Christy Landes holds the Jerry A. Walker Endowed Chair in Chemistry and is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), with affiliate appointments in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Materials Research Lab. Her research focuses on predictive separations, spectro-electrochemistry, and single-molecule spectroscopy to study interfacial dynamics in biological and synthetic systems. She leads the Landes Research Group, which develops advanced microscopy techniques and computational methods to analyze nanoscale phenomena.

Education & Career: Landes earned her B.S. from George Mason University (1998) and Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology (2003). She held postdoctoral positions at the University of Oregon and University of Texas-Austin before joining UIUC in 2023. Previously, she was at Rice University as the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Chair of Chemistry.

Research Interests: The lab explores nanomaterials, protein dynamics, and predictive separation technologies. Key areas include plasmon-driven chemistry, interfacial charge transfer, and computational imaging. Recent work addresses challenges in protein purification via single-molecule insights and machine learning-driven nanoparticle analysis.

Awards & Recognition: Landes has received the 2024 Kazuhiko Kinosita Award, 2023 AAAS Fellowship, NSF CAREER Award (2011), and Early Career ACS Award (2016). Her work bridges fundamental chemistry with applications in energy, biotechnology, and materials science.

Labs & Teams: The Landes Group collaborates across disciplines, with recent projects on gold nanorod dissolution mechanisms, plasmon energy transfer, and AI-driven materials design. The lab includes postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates, emphasizing mentorship and innovation.