People
The CBP consists of faculty, research staff, visitors, and students at UMass Amherst. It has collaborators across campus and in the Five College region of Western Massachusetts. Affiliated faculty serve on the Executive Committee and the Steering Committee.
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Understanding cellular dynamics, organization, and transport through the development of artificial biological membranes.
Associate Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Amherst College
Folding of DNA during spermatogenesis using particle tracking and optical tweezers; particle tracking inside of the cell to study cytoskeleton formation.
Professor, CBP Interim director
Chemistry and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Development of advanced computational methods and their applications to the study of biomolecules and biomaterials.
Associate Professor
Chemistry Department
Folding, assembly, dynamics and functional mechanism of pore-forming membrane proteins, and their applications in biotechnology.
Professor
Physics Department
The role of membrane tension, morphology, and composition in guiding the binding and activity of proteins relevant to cell trafficking and communication.
Assistant Professor
School of Natural Science, Hampshire College
Electron cryotomography of protein machines in cells and HIV from a biological and social context.
Distinguished Professor
Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Chemistry
Protein folding in the cell and molecular mechanisms of Hsp70 chaperones.
Professor and CBP Director
Physics Department
Single-molecule-sensitive biophysics with an emphasis on molecular mechanics and interactions in confining and complex environments.
Professor
Microbiology
Redox-cycling mechanisms and oxygen radical generation in systems that impact both humans and the environment.
Associate Professor
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The study of protein structure, protein-membrane and protein-protein interactions using a variety of biophysical, biochemical, and molecular biological approaches.
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
The effects of fluid forces on cell motility, coagulation and cell phenotype as it relates to cardiovascular disease and vascular biology.
Assistant Professor
Biology Department
Expanding our understanding of hearing and measuring the biophysical properties of hair cells using electrophysiological tools and imaging techniques.
Professor
Chemistry
Structure and fundamental mechanisms in transcription; RNA folding.
Professor
Polymer Science and Engineering Department
Understanding how macromolecules, both biological and synthetic, assume their sizes and shapes, organize into assemblies, and move around in crowded environments.
Professor Emeritus and Past CBP Director
Physics Department
Theory and measurement of intermolecular forces organizing soft matter.
Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering Department
Utilizing self-assembly, molecular design, and microfluidic technologies to generate biomimetic microenvironments that enable the study and implementation of biomolecules to address real-world challenges.
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Cancer metastasis, cell biomechanics and bioengineering.
Visiting Professor
Physics Department
Theoretical investigations of biological macromolecules and assemblies.
Associate Professor
Chemistry
To understand, on a molecular level, how the small protein ubiquitin controls the dynamics of biochemical pathways to maintain normal cellular function.
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Biophysical regulation of stem cell fate, developmental biomechanics, mechanotransduction, BioMEMS, and tissue engineering.
Professor
Chemistry Department
Mechanisms of transmembrane signaling and transport by membrane proteins, including bacterial chemotaxis receptors and ABC transporters.
Professor
Physics Department
Electronic transport through bacterial pili and biofilms, and microbial fuel cells.
Professor
Biology Department
Assembly of the mammalian mitotic spindle. Current projects examine regulation of mitotic motor proteins by the microtubule associated protein, TPX2, using live cells and in vitro TIRF assays.
Assistant Professor
Chemistry Department
DNA/RNA folding and conformational change inside the cell, and cell membrane lipid interactions.
Assistant Professor
Physics
Cell motility in anisotropic fluids and complex environments.
