Martin Gruebele

James R. Eiszner Endowed Chair in Chemistry, Center for Advanced Studies Professor, Professor of Physics, and Professor of Biophysics and Quantitative Biology. Combines experiment and theory in work that covers the spectrum of physics, chemistry and biology, from small molecule dynamics to animal locomotion. Investigations of quantum energy flow in molecules have revealed unexpected richness and simplicity for processes ranging from laser-assisted fusion to quantum computing in molecules. Laser temperature-jump studies of protein folding opened up the field of ultrafast folding, demonstrating that proteins can fold downhill in free energy without encountering significant barriers. In-cell protein dynamics reveals how cells and differentiated tissues can control stability and function of their proteins. Developments in scanning microscopy enabled single particle imaging of excited states with sub-nanometer resolution, and have highlighted cooperative hopping dynamics of compact regions on glass, testing glass theories far below the glass transition. Work on bacterial and fish locomotion has shown how chemoreceptors are also sensitive to light, and how dimensionality reduction techniques can classify behavior.