Experimental Biological Physics
The experimental biological physics group develops and applies experimental techniques to study biological entities at various scales from biomolecules to cells to organisms.
Single-molecule studies range from DNA structure and dynamics to RNA/protein unfolding to biopolymer sequencing; cell-level research interrogates the response of cancer cells to light; organism-level research focuses on the physics and connectivity of the brain.
Members
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Professor Champion’s expertise lies in Quantum biology, proton tunneling, and ultrafast protein dynamics and coherence.
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Professor Liao’s expertise is in cytoskeletons in neurons, advanced imaging methods, and physics of living matter.
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Professor Spring’s expertise is in cancer photomedicine, biophysical microscopy, and laser microsurgery.
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Professor Sridhar’s research is focused in quantitative MRI, drug delivery, and neurovisual science.
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Professor Stevenson’s expertise lies in quantum sensing, nanoscale biophysics, and membrane dynamics.
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Research in Professor Venkatachalam’s group focuses on the physics of brains and behavior.
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Professor Wanunu’s expertise lies in nanoscale biophysics, nanopores, and optics.
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Professor William’s group conducts research in single-molecule nucleic acid interactions, retroviral replication, and chromatin dynamics.
Discover groundbreaking research in biological physics at Northeastern
In the news
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News
Northeastern researchers identify proteins receptive to treating ovarian cancer
Bryan Spring, associate professor of physics, along with colleagues has identified two proteins abundant on drug-resistant ovarian cancer cells that become receptive to chemotherapy when treated with light. -
These goggles scan your brain to detect neurological and vision function loss
It combines a smartphone in a virtual reality headset with a brain sensor and plays podcasts. -
Research
Could biology hold the key to the future of computing? This Northeastern physicist is on a mission to find out
Paul Stevenson, assistant physics professor, is studying “spin” to see how it is naturally occurring, a process that up until recently was thought to only be something that scientist could engineer. -
Student-led collaboration explains how worms navigate a world of food and toxins
A new study from a Northeastern-led collaboration, looking into the C. elegans worms’ interactions with their microbiome, found that the worms are willing to leave a bacterial food source when they’re exposed to one of their deadliest toxins and identified the driving neurological mechanism behind it. -
Meni Wanunu, developer of sensitive biological sensors, receives Northeastern University NAI Innovator of the Year Award
Meni Wanunu works with small things — very small things, like individual molecules. But how can researchers observe the inner workings of something so miniscule? For advancements in sensors that stretch and scan molecules on their own level, Wanunu has received the Innovator of the Year Award from the Northeastern University chapter of the National […] -
Northeastern research on HIV infection could lead to better drugs to treat the virus
It has been more than 40 years since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and scientists still don’t fully understand how HIV enters and replicates in human cells, which has hindered the development of treatments. New research by a team of physicists led by Northeastern University professor Mark Williams is working on a solution. There is no […]