Single Molecule Biophysics in Illinois

Ha Research Group
Main Office: 106 A Loomis Laboratory of Physics; 1110 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801-3080
Telephone: 217-244-5620 (Shawn) or 217-244-7186 (Julie); Telefax: 217-244-7187

For UPS, FEDEX or packages larger than 8 1/2 x 11" in size, please indicate addressee and send to
MRL Storeroom; 104 S. Goodwin; Urbana, IL 61801-2901

Professor of Physics, Investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Co-Director of the Center for the Physics of Living Cells (CPLC).
Taekjip Ha		BS, Seoul National University, Korea, 1990, physics MA, University of California, Berkeley, 1991, physics PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 1996, physics
Research Assistant Professor and CPLC Director of Education and Outreach
Jaya Yodh 08/06--present		BA, Cornell University, New York, 1987, biology w/biochemistry concentration PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, 1993, biochemistry
Post-doctoral Research Associates
Farhan Chowdhury (Appointment through IGB) 05/12--present		BS, Bangldesh Univ. of Engr. & Tech, 2003, mechanical engineering MS, Tuskegee University, AL, 2007, mechanical engineering PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011, mechanical engineering
Jingyi Fei 05/11--present		BS, University of Science & Technology, China, 2005, chemical physics MS, Columbia University, New York, 2009, chemistry PhD, Columbia University, New York, 2010, chemistry
Kyu Young Han 01/11--present		BS, Seoul National University, Korea, 2004, chemistry PhD, Seoul National University, Korea, 2010, chemistry
Hajin Kim 06/09--present		BS, Seoul National University, S. Korea, 1999, physics MS, Seoul National University, S. Korea, 2001, physics PhD, Seoul National University, S. Korea, 2006, physics
Hye Ran Koh (Joint appointment with Sua Myong) 05/10--present		BS, Seoul National University, S. Korea, 2002, chemistry (summa cum laude) PhD, Seoul National University, S. Korea, 2009, physical chemistry
I-Ren Lee 02/12--present		BS, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, 1998, chemistry MS, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, 2000, chemistry PhD, California Institute of Technology, California, 2011, chemistry
Benjamin Leslie 03/09--present		BA, Colgate University, New York, 2003, Chemistry (cum laude) PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana, 2009, Chemistry
Isaac T.S. Li (Joint appointment with Yann Chemla) 09/12--present		BS, University of Toronto, 2005, engineering science MS, University of Toronto, 2007, biomedical engineering PhD, University of Toronto, 2012, physical chemistry
Xinghua Shi 07/07--present		BS, University of Science and Technology, China, 2001, chemical physics PhD, Stanford University, California, 2007, biophysical chemistry
Christopher Thibodeaux (Joint appointment with Wilfred van der Donk) 11/10--present	NO PHOTO AVAILABLE	BS, Louisiana State University, LA, 2002, biochemistry, plant biology, chemistry PhD, University of Texas, Austin, 2010, cellular & molecular biology
Felix Tritschler 05/12--present		Diploma, University of Tübingen, Germany, 2004, biochemistry PhD, University of Tübingen, Germany , 2010, biochemistry
Xuefeng Wang (Joint appointment with Paul Selvin) 08/10--present		BS, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 2001 MS, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 2004 PhD, Purdue University, Indiana, 2009, physics
Qian "Elizabeth" Xu 08/11--present		PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2011, biophysics BS, University of Virginia, 2006, chemistry and physics
Qiucen Zhang 09/12--present		PhD, Princeton University, 2012, physics MPhil, Hong Kong Univ of Science and Technology, 2008, physics BS, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 2006, engineering physics

Graduate Research Assistants
Chang Ting Lin 01/13--present		MS, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan, 2010, biophotonics engineering BS, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, 2008, plant pathology and microbiology
Digvijay Singh
Vasudha Aggarwal 12/11--present		MS, Tata Inst. of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, 2011, biology BS, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India, 2008, physics
Sinan Arslan 05/06--present		MS, University of Illinois, Urbana, 2002, physics BS, Bilkent University, Turkey, 1999, physics
Sultan Doganay 01/08--present		BS, Koc University, Turkey, 2007, physics
Boyang Hua 11/12--present		BS, Nanjing University, China, 2012, chemistry
Ankur Jain 12/07--present		BS, IIT-Kharagpur, India, 2007, biotechnology, biochemical engineering
Thuy Ngo 02/10--present		MS, University of Amsterdam, 2009, physics BS, Hanoi University of Technology, 2007, engineering physics
Seongjin Park (Joint appointment with Ido Golding) 01/09--present		BS, Seoul National University, S. Korea, 2006, physics, mathematics
Salman Syed 08/11--present		BS, University of Illinois, Urbana, 2005, molecular and cellular biology
Jichuan Zhang 01/11--present		BS, Zhejiang U, Hanzhou China, 2010, polymer science, engineering
Visiting/Collaborating Scientists
Dae-Hyuk Kweon
Seung-Jae Lee 12/11--present		BS, Iowa State University, 2001, biochemistry PhD, University of Texas SW Medical Ctr., 2007, biophysics
Support Personnel
Stephanie Johansson, Office Support Specialist 03/13--present		BA, North Central University, 2005, youth studies
Sheryl Hembrey, Howard Hughes Administrative Assistant 01/13--present	NO PHOTO AVAILABLE
Betty Ujhelyi Lab Manager 08/11--present		BS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1982, agriculture/animal sciences
Ha group, 2009
Alumni of the Ha Group
Post-Doctoral Fellows departing since 2012
Matthew Comstock (Joint appt with Y. Chemla) 03/08--8/12		BS, University of Chicago, 2000, physics PhD, University of California at Berkeley, 2008, physics Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Illinois, 3/2008-8/2012 Currently: Assistant Professor and Cowen Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
Students graduating with a Doctorate Degree since 2012
Reza Vafabakhsh 08/06--present	NO PHOTO AVAILABLE	MS, Inst. for Advanced Studies in Basic Science, 2005, Zanjan, Iran, physics Currently: Post-doctoral fellow, University of California - Berkeley
Kaushik Ragunathan 01/06--5/12 (PhD)		B.Tech, PSG College of Technology, 2005, biotechnology PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012, biophysics/comp biology Thesis: "Single Molecule FRET study on the Mechanism of RecA Mediated Strand Exchange." Currently: Post-doctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Cell Biology, Boston, MA.
Prakrit Jena 03/08--05/12 (PhD)		BS, Illinois Wesleyan University, 2005, physics, mathematics PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012, physics Thesis: "Single Molecule Fluorescence Microscopy of Carbon Nanotubes." Currently: Post-doctoral Fellow, Heller Research Group, Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
Ruobo Zhou 05/06-12/11 (PhD)		BS, University of Science and Technology, China, 2005, physics PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012, physics Thesis: "Fluorescence-force Spectroscopy at the Single Molecule Level." Currently: Post-doctoral associate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Physics, Urbana, IL
Students graduating with a Master's Degree since 2012
Kyung Suk Lee 08/06--present		BS, Seoul National University, Korea, 2006
Michael Brenner 09/06--present		BS, University of Georgia, Athens, 2005, biochemistry, molecular biology
James Adrian 09/10--05/12 (MS)		BS, Drury University, Missouri, 2009, biology, chemistry, physics MS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012, biochemistry Currently: Memphis, TN
Divya Srinivasan (Joint appt with S. Myong) 06/10--04/12 (MS)		BS, Illinois Inst. of Technology, 2008, biochemistry MS, University of Illinois, 2012, biochemistry: Master's Thesis: "Single molecule pull-down of viral RNA-protein complexes." Currently: Reseach Associate, Vaccine and Gene Therapy Inst., Port St. Lucie, Florida
Post-doctoral Associates Prior to 2012
Balci, Hamza, PhD, April 2007-August 2009, Current position: Assistant Professor of Physics, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. Cornish, Peter, PhD, October 2005-March 2010, Current position: Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia. Hohng, Sungchul, PhD, January 2002-August 2006, Current position: Assistant Professor of Physics, Seoul National University, South Korea Ishitsuka, Yuji, PhD, November 2006-August 2011, Currently: Post-doctoral Fellow, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Institut für Angewandte Physik; Wolfgang-Gaede-Straße 1, 76131 Karlsruhe; Germany. Lee, Gwangrog, PhD, November 2006-January 2012, Currently: Assistant Professor of Life Science, Gwangju Inst. of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea. Myong, Sua, PhD, January 2002-January 2007, Current position: Assistant Professor, Bioengineering Department, U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Rasnik, Ivan, PhD, December 2000-August 2005, Current position: Assistant Professor, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia Rothenberg, Eli, PhD, August 2005-July 2008, Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, New York University. Schlierf, Michael, Doct., October 2008-August 2010, Current position: Assistant Professor, Technical University of Dresden, Germany. Yoon, Tae Young, PhD, July 2005-December 2007, Current position: Assistant Professor of Physics, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea.

Graduate Students Prior to 2012

Cisse, Ibrahim, May 2005-December 2009, received PhD in physics: “Single Molecule Study of Weak and Transient Biological Interactions.” Currently: Post-doctoral Researcher in the Department of Physics and Biology; M. Dahan Group; Ecole Normale Superieure, 46 rue d’Ulm, 75005 Paris, France.
Diao, Jiajie, August 2005-October 2010, received PhD in physics: “Single-molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Study of Snare-Mediated Membrane Fusion.” Currently: Post-doctoral Research Associate at Sanford University School of Medicine, Stanford.
Earnest, Tyler, August 2010-August 2011. Currently: Graduate student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Karen Dahmen.
Joo, Chirlmin, January 2003-May 2007, received PhD in physics: “Probing strand exchange reactions using single molecule fluorescence.” Currently: Assistant Professor, Department of BioNanoScience, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Liu, Cheng, May 2005-December 2010, received PhD in physics: “Single-Molecule and Ensemble Studies of DNA Replication System.” Currently: Research Programmer, University of Notre Dame, Information Technology Center, Indiana.
Murphy-McKinney, Mary Cathleen (“Cathy”), May 2001-August 2006, received PhD in biophysics: “Single-Molecule and Ensemble Fluorescence Studies of Single Stranded DNA and Replication Proteins.” Currently: Research Specialist, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri.
McKinney, Sean, May 2001-August 2006, received PhD in physics: “Acquisition and Analysis of DNA Recombination Intermediates using Single Molecule FRET Microscopy.” Currently: Research Specialist, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri.
Nahas, Michelle, May 2002-December, 2006, received PhD in physics: “Folding and Catalysis of Hairpin Ribozyme.” Currently: Researcher, Helicos, North Carolina
Okumus, Burak, January 2001-September 2006, received PhD in biophysics: “Novel Techniques for the Single Molecule Toolkit: Vesicle Encapsulation and Immobilization.” Currently: Research Associate at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachussets.
Park, Jeehae, January 2001-November 2011, received PhD in physics: “Single-molecule study of the DNA helicase regulating genomic stability.” Currently: Research Associate at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Roy, Rahul, January 2002-May 2007, received PhD in biophysics: “Force and Fluorescence Studies of Single Enzymes.” Currently: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
Stevens, Benjamin, May 2001-August 2006, received PhD in physics: “Single Molecule Studies of Helicase Mechanisms.” Currently: Researcher at Ventana Medical Systems, Tucson, AZ.