Abstract

Did you know that proteins are nanoscale machines that help us think, dance, and keep the threat of cancer at bay? Did you know that biology is a new research frontier for physicists? In this lecture, the speaker will discuss how biophysicists are using light based tools to poke and examine nature’s nanomachines, one molecule at a time, uncovering the amazing acrobatic abilities that are essential for all forms of life.

About the speaker

Prof Taekjip Ha received his MA and PhD in Physics from University of California at Berkeley in 1991 and 1996 respectively. He joined the University of Illinois in 2000 as an Assistant Professor and became the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor of Physics in 2012. He moved to Johns Hopkins University in 2015 and is currently the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Professor of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry and of Biomedical Engineering.

Prof Ha’s research focuses on pushing the limits of single-molecule detection methods to study complex biological systems. His group develops state-of-the-art biophysical techniques and applies them to study diverse protein-nucleic acid and protein-protein complexes, and mechanical perturbation and response of these systems both in vitro and in vivo.

Prof Ha was named the Searle scholar in 2001 and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2005. In 2011, Prof Ha received the Ho-Am Prize in Science. He was also elected the 2012 Scientist of the Year by the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST). In 2015, Prof Ha was elected as a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

For attendees’ attention

		The lecture is free and open to all. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study
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