Faculty and Research Groups
Saad Bhamla
The Bhamla Lab
Saad Bhamla is an Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. The Bhamla lab studies a diverse set of living systems, from the biophysics of leaping nematodes to the noisy dynamics of sheep herding. Dr. Bhamla is also interested in frugal science, exploring low-cost engineering solutions to expensive problems in science and medicine.
Jennifer Curtis
The Curtis Group
Jennifer Curtis is a Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech. Her research group studies the physics of cell biology, including interactions between and within cells, as well as cell interactions with the extracellular matrix. The Curtis Group is also interested in protein-hyaluronan networks, immunophage therapy, and the development of novel techniques for studying biological systems at cellular and subcellular scales.
Flavio Fenton
The CHAOS Lab
Flavio Fenton is a Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech. His CHAOS Lab (Complex Heart Arrhythmias and other Oscillating Systems) combines theory, simulation, and experiment to study the complex and sometimes chaotic behavior of the heart. Dr. Fenton’s work focuses on the travel of signals through oscillatory and excitable media.
Dan Goldman
The CRAB Lab
Dan Goldman is a Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech. His CRAB Lab (Complex Rheology And Biomechanics) studies the complex interactions between biological systems and soft matter that can display properties of both solids and liquids, including sand, mud, and many other places where life can thrive. The CRAB Lab explores the physical and neuromechanical principles of animal locomotion to inspire the design of robotic systems which can navigate any environment with ease.
JC Gumbart
SimBac
JC Gumbart is a Dunn Family Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech. His SimBac group uses high-performance supercomputers and advanced software to simulate the physics of living systems at the atomic level. Using this “computational microscope,” Dr. Gumbart and his group seek to study the mysteries of bacterial life—and especially the methods life has evolved to move proteins and nutrients into and across cell membranes.
David Hu
The Hu Lab
David Hu is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Dr. Hu is an expert in fluid dynamics, with particular interest in liquid-solid and solid-solid interfaces. The Hu Lab studies the locomotion of animals ranging from ants to elephants, and the occasionally eccentric nature of their work has won Dr. Hu two Ig Nobel prizes.
Harold Kim
The Harold Kim Lab
Harold Kim is a Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech. His research on the single-molecule biophysics of DNA stands at the smallest end of the PoLS length scale. The Harold Kim Lab uses fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and coarse-grained simulations to probe the physical properties which define DNA, RNA, and proteins and to determine the kinetics of interactions between these biomolecules.
Audrey Sederberg
MaTRIX Labratory
The newest addition to the PoLS family is Dr. Audrey Sederberg, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Georgia Tech. Dr. Sederberg heads the MaTRIX (Modelling and Theory with Robust Integration of Experiments) Labratory, which employs theory and computation to probe the mysteries of neuroscience. Their research covers systems both biological and artificial, making use of extensive collaboration to keep theory deeply rooted in experiment.
Simon Sponberg
The Agile Systems Lab
Simon Sponberg is an Associate Professor of Physics and Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech. His Agile Systems Lab is interested in neuromechanics—an emerging field that studies the interplay between neuroscience, muscle physiology, and biomechanics to produce animal locomotion. Dr. Sponberg and his lab are particularly interested insect biology, with moths and roaches as their most common model organisms.
Peter Yunker
The Yunker Lab
Peter Yunker is an Associate Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech. The Yunker Lab studies cells—how they grow, how they interact with their surroundings, and how they interact with each other. Much of Dr. Yunker’s work focuses on biofilm environments, developing novel techniques to probe their three-dimensional structure. The Yunker Lab is also interested in the origins of multicellularity, using a unique strain of “snowflake yeast” as a model organism.