Chemical Physics Seminar

Abstract:

Recent efforts by our group and others have shown the promise of applying single molecule methods to link mechanistic detail about protein absorption to macroscale observables.  When we study one molecule at a time, we eliminate ensemble averaging, thereby accessing underlying heterogeneity.  However, we must develop new methods to increase information content in the resulting low density and low -signal- to -noise data and to improve space and time resolution. 

I will highlight recent advances in super-localization microscopy for quantifying the physics and chemistry that occur between target proteins and stationary phase supports during chromatographic separations.  My discussion will concentrate on the newfound ability of super-protein tracking to inform theoretical parameters by quantification of adsorption dynamics, protein unfolding, and nano-confined transport.  Additionally,  I will discuss using phase manipulation to encode temporal, 3D spatial , and orientational information and the opportunities and challenges associated with such imaging methods. 

Bio:

Christy F. Landes is the Jerry A. Walker Endowed Chair in Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining UIUC, she was the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Professor of Chemistry at Rice University with appointments in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. She earned her BS from George Mason University in 1998 and completed a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2003 under the direction of Mostafa El-Sayed. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oregon and an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin under the direction of Geraldine Richmond and Paul Barbara, respectively.  

Christy is the Director of the NSF Phase I Center for Adopting Flaws as Features. She is the 2024 Past-Chair of the Physical Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. She is a senior editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters and serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of ACS Nano and Accounts of Chemical Research. She is a Fellow of the Kavli Foundation, the American Chemical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her awards include the ACS Early-Career Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry, the Langmuir Lectureship, and the Kinosita Award in Single-Molecule Biophysics.