Biophysics studies biological systems from the perspective of physical sciences. In this new and interdisciplinary area, biological phenomena and structures are studied and explained using the ideas and quantitative methods of Physics and Chemistry. Such methods are particularly suited for studying macromolecules of great importance in biomedical science, such as proteins involved in infectious diseases, cancer, heart diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Biophysics researchers at Rensselaer are tackling key questions in energy transduction, molecular motors, protein folding, protein structures and protein dynamics. A variety of methods are being employed to address these questions, include X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, single molecule imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance, surface plasmon resonance, muscle mechanics, and molecular modeling.

Biology

Blanca Barquera

Christopher Bystroff

Jonathan Dordick

Susan Gilbert

Jane Koretz

Lee Ligon

Robert Linhardt

George Makhatadze

Douglas Swank

Chunyu Wang 

Biomedical Engineering

Vesna Damljanovic

Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Curt Breneman

Wilfredo Colón

James Kempf

K.V. Lakshmi

Chemical and Biological Engineering

Georges Belfort

Peter Tessier

Shekhar Garde

Physics, Applied Physics, & Astronomy

Saroj Nayak