Robert Riehn

Robert Riehn is a Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Physics at North Carolina State University (NC State). He holds a PhD from Cambridge University (2003) and served as a research associate at Princeton University (2003–2006) before joining NC State as an Assistant Professor in 2006. His research focuses on biophysics and soft-condensed matter, particularly the physics of biological molecules in nano-scale environments.

Key research areas include DNA-protein interactions, nanochannel-based epigenetic analysis, and nanophotonic interferometry for biomolecular detection. His group has developed novel nanofluidic devices and plasmonic sensors, with applications in studying telomere biology, epigenetic markers, and protein-DNA dynamics. Notable publications span topics like plasmonic nanoantennas for polarization control, protein-mediated DNA compaction, and single-molecule imaging of cohesin complexes.

Riehn has advised PhD students Abbas Ghaffari and Ming Liu, both of whom successfully defended their theses. His work bridges physics and biology, leveraging nanotechnology to probe fundamental biological processes. The Riehn Group collaborates with other departments, such as the Wang and Weninger labs, to advance interdisciplinary research.