Kirstin R Purdy Drew

Kirstin R. Purdy Drew is a Teaching Professor of Physics at the Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, affiliated with the Eberly College of Science. She serves as the REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) Coordinator and teaches courses such as Experimental Physics 457W, Physics Behind the Headlines 10, and Computational Physics 430. Her research focuses on advanced laboratory instruction, computational integration into physics education, and biophysical systems including actin networks and bacterial dynamics.

Education: B.S. (Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 1999), M.A. (Physics, Brandeis University, 2001), Ph.D. (Physics, Brandeis University, 2004).

Her research interests span biophysics, soft matter physics, and cell biology, with emphasis on actin filaments, protein interactions, and membrane dynamics. Her work bridges experimental and theoretical approaches to understand biological systems' structural and mechanical properties.

Publications highlight contributions to actin network mechanics, bacterial cytoskeleton dynamics, and antimicrobial mechanisms. She actively develops educational initiatives, including innovative lab curricula and computational tools for physics education.

Labs/Teams: Coordinates the Physics REU program and maintains the Advanced Lab Website for experimental physics education infrastructure.