nyu molecular biology phd

Molecular Biology

The Molecular Biology Core is spearheaded by Director Renato Bruni, PhD.

The Molecular Biology Core

Current capabilities of the core include:.

• Cloning of targets by Ligation Independent Cloning (LIC) and seamless cloning (Gibson) into custom vectors for expression in insect and mammalian cells (can easily be expanded to include bacterial expression vectors). 
• Small-scale to large-scale expression and purification of cytosolic targets and membrane proteins from insect and mammalian cells (adherent HEK as well as suspension cells). Same for bacterial expression.
• Screening of protein stability using size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and fluorescent SEC (FSEC). FSEC is particularly advantageous for screening detergents for membrane protein stability. 
• Various tools for protein detection including SDS-PAGE (Coomassie Blue and silver staining) and Immuno-blots (Western blotting).
• Binding assays (protein-small molecule, protein-protein etc.) using microscale thermophoresis (MST). 

The Core holds the following equipment:

• Two Eppendorf PCR machines (96/384-well capabilities). 
• Two large shaking incubators (Innova) for bacterial cell growth (several liters capacity).
• One Innova shaker for insect cell growth (several liters capacity). 
• One large reach-in CO2 incubator (Thermofisher) for large scale growth of mammalian suspension cells.
• Two programmable sonicators for small-scale to medium large-scale volumes cell disruption. 
• Floor centrifuge (Lynx 600 Thermofisher) with capability of up to six liters per spin.
• Floor ultracentrifuge (Beckman) for high-spins centrifugation of medium to large-scale volumes. 
• Bench ultracentrifuge (Beckman) for high-spin centrifugation of small-scale volumes.
• Three AKTA Pure FPLCs for size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) for small- to medium-scale volumes (for both analytical and preparatory purposes). 
• One Shimadzu HPLC for SEC for analytical purposes.
• Electrophoresis systems for SDS-PAGE. 
• Transfer machines for immune-blotting (Thermofisher iBlot 2).
• Gel imaging system (BioRad). 
• One Monolith machine (Nanotemper Technologies) for MST binding assays.

Core Resources

Clinical and translational research center, neurobehavior, electrophysiology coming soon..

Please visit the Core resources and the many other resources available to the PRC .

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• Program of Study
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Program of Study (CAS Bulletin)

Biology (2022 - 2024), major in biology (bachelor of arts): general information.

Three options are available to students pursuing a major in biology. The standard biology track gives majors a broad background, with the laboratory, quantitative, and reasoning skills needed for today’s biology. The ecology track also provides students with a broad background in modern biology, but with a focus on ecological concepts, approaches, and analytical methods. It is primarily intended for students planning to pursue graduate study in ecology or a related field. Finally, the global public health/science major with a concentration in biology provides students with strong foundations in biological science and global public health, with a focus on one of three emphasis areas: genetics and genomics, infectious diseases, or environmental health.

Each biology major is assigned a faculty adviser from the department and meets with that professor to select courses in the context of the student’s academic and career goals. Faculty advisers also guide students in pursuing opportunities for curricular enhancement, such as research experiences and study away.

To permit the maximal choice of appropriate upper-level courses, we strongly recommend that students take Principles of Biology I and II (BIOL-UA 11, 12), General Chemistry I and II and Laboratories (CHEM-UA 125, 126), and calculus in the first year. Detailed additional information on course planning is available through the department website and should be discussed with the faculty adviser. Programs of majors must be approved each term by a department adviser. All courses counted toward the major must be completed with a grade of C or better.

Standard Biology Track

The standard track of the biology major requires 16 courses (70 points), as follows.

Biology core courses (four courses/16 points):

• Principles of Biology I and II (BIOL-UA 11, 12) NOTE: Biology majors are not required to register for the 1-credit Principles of Biology Lab (BIOL-UA 123). It is intended for prehealth students not majoring in biology.
• Molecular and Cell Biology I and II (BIOL-UA 21, 22) NOTE: Students may also register for the optional 1-credit Molecular and Cell Biology Lab (BIOL-UA 223) concurrently with MCB I (BIOL-UA 21).

Five upper-level biology courses (five courses/20 points):

• Laboratory skill courses: "At the Bench" or research courses
• Quantitative skill courses: math, computational, and modeling courses
• Reasoning skill courses: reading-intensive courses

The two additional upper-level electives may be satisfied either by taking advanced biology courses (electives covering key areas of biology) or by taking additional reasoning, quantitative, or laboratory skills courses. A current list of advanced biology courses and of courses satisfying each category above is maintained on the official website of the department of biology.

Additional courses required for biology standard track majors (seven courses/34 points):

• General Chemistry and Laboratory I and II (CHEM-UA 125, 126)
• Organic Chemistry and Laboratory I and II (CHEM-UA 225, 226)
• General Physics I and II (PHYS-UA 11, 12)
• Calculus I (MATH-UA 121)

Ecology Track

The ecology track of the biology major requires 16 courses (69 points), as follows.

Ecology core courses (four courses/16 points):

• Molecular and Cell Biology I (BIOL-UA 21) NOTE: Students may also register for the optional 1-credit Molecular and Cell Biology Lab (BIOL-UA 223) concurrently with MCB I (BIOL-UA 21).
• Fundamentals of Ecology (BIOL-UA 63)

The two additional upper-level electives may be satisfied either by taking advanced biology courses (electives covering key areas of biology) or by taking additional reasoning, quantitative, or laboratory skills courses. A current list of advanced biology courses and of courses satisfying each category above is maintained on the official website of the Department of Biology. Note that the set of courses that may be used as electives for the ecology track is not identical to the set that may be used for the standard biology track.

Additional courses required for ecology track majors (seven courses/34 points):

• General Physics I (PHYS-UA 11)
• Calculus II (MATH-UA 122) or Linear Algebra (MATH-UA 140)

Global Public Health/Science Major with Concentration in Biology

Students pursuing this combined major complete a concentration in biology that emphasizes one of the following areas: genetics and genomics, infectious diseases, or environmental health. This major provides a unique opportunity for students to explore cutting-edge life science and how recent advances can help address some of the world's most complex health challenges. Graduates are well-prepared to pursue professional studies in medicine, dentistry, public health, and nutrition, as well as academic and research positions.

Departmental advising is absolutely crucial for students pursuing this demanding major. Students must satisfy all requirements of the College Core Curriculum (the First-Year Seminar, foreign language, expository writing, and Foundations of Contemporary Culture). Careful planning is necessary to ensure that all major, prehealth, and College Core Curriculum requirements can be completed in four years.

Students in this combined major must consult with the DUS or other departmental adviser to work out a course plan, especially as this major requires students to study away for one semester. The following are the twenty-two courses (94 points) that must be completed with a grade of C or higher [please note that the post-intermediate language requirement for the major applies only to students who matriculated before fall 2021; if they are granted a waiver or exemption from the requirement, they must take an additional (third) 4-point elective in the major. Students who matriculate in and after fall 2021 have no post-intermediate language requirement for this major, and are all required to take three major electives]:

Global public health requirements (six courses/24 points):

• Health and Society in a Global Context (UGPH-GU 10; no prerequisites)
• Biostatistics (BIOL-UA 42), taken in lieu of Biostatistics for Public Health (UGPH-GU 20).
• Epidemiology for Global Health (UGPH-GU 30)
• Health Policy in a Global World (UGPH-GU 40)
• Environmental Health in a Global World (UGPH-GU 50)
• Undergraduate Experiential Learning in Global Public Health (UGPH-GU 60)

Note well: UGPH-GU 10 is the prerequisite or corequisite for UGPH-GU 20, 30, 40, and 50. UGPH-GU 30 is an additional (recommended) prerequisite or corequisite for UGPH-GU 40. In addition, UGPH-GU 10, 20, and 30 are firm prerequisites for UGPH-GU 60.

One foreign language course above the intermediate two level (one course/4 points):

• This requirement applies only to students who matriculated before fall 2021; students who matriculate in and after fall 2021 do not take this additional course.
• Students in the former category may petition for a waiver from the requirement, or may use an NYU language placement or language exemption exam to meet this requirement. If they successfully waive or exempt out of the requirement, they must take an additional (third) 4-point major elective (see below) to satisfy the total number of credits required for the major. For more details, consult the archived PDF of the 2020-2022 CAS Bulletin at bulletin.cas.nyu.edu , or discuss with a major adviser.
• Students in the latter category are all required to take a third elective in the major (see below) to replace the discontinued (for them) 4-point post-intermediate language requirement and satisfy the total number of credits required for the major.
• Molecular and Cell Biology I and II (BIOL-UA 21, 22) NOTE: It is strongly recommended that students in this combined major take the optional 1-credit Molecular and Cell Biology Lab (BIOL-UA 223) concurrently with MCB I (BIOL-UA 21).

Biology emphasis area (two courses/8 points):

• Genetics and genomics
• Infectious diseases
• Environmental health

A current list of courses satisfying each area is maintained on the official website of the Department of Biology.

Additional required courses in science and mathematics (seven courses/34 points):

Major electives (three courses/12 points):

• One additional biology elective must be completed by all students pursuing this major. A current list of courses approved as electives is maintained on the official website of the Department of Biology.
• A second (and, for some students, also a third) elective must be completed that either is one of these approved biology electives or an elective approved by the GPH program, as follows:
• Students who matriculate in and after fall 2021 must take three major electives in total. The third elective replaces the discontinued (for them) post-intermediate language requirement in this major.
• Students who matriculated before fall 2021 technically have a major elective requirement of only two courses/8 points; however, if they waive or exempt out of the major's post-intermediate language requirement, they must take a third major elective for 4 points.

All majors must also study away for one semester.

For descriptions of UGPH-GU courses and for all policies applying to the major (including those for transfer students), please see the global public health section of this Bulletin.

The department offers four minors in biology designed to hone skills in one of four contemporary areas: molecular and cell biology , genetics , genomics and bioinformatics , or environmental biology .

The following courses (completed with grades of C or higher) are required for the specific minors. Students interested in one of the minors offered in biology should consult the director of undergraduate studies as early as possible to plan a course of study that meets their needs. Each minor consists of five 4-point courses plus one 1-point lab (21 points).

Minor in molecular and cell biology: BIOL-UA 11, 12, 21, and 22; either BIOL-UA 123 or BIOL-UA 223; At the Bench: Applied Cell Biology (BIOL-UA 37).

Minor in genetics: BIOL-UA 11, 12, and 21; either BIOL-UA 123 or BIOL-UA 223; either Genetics (BIOL-UA 30) or Biostatistics and Human Genetics (BIOL-UA 45); either At the Bench: Laboratory in Genetics (BIOL-UA 31) or At the Bench: Epigenetics (BIOL-UA 130).

Minor in genomics and bioinformatics: BIOL-UA 11, 12, and 21; either BIOL-UA 123 or BIOL-UA 223; either Genome Biology (BIOL-UA 38) or Bioinformatics in Medicine and Biology (BIOL-UA 103) or Fundamentals of Bioinformatics (BIOL-UA 124); one of the following: Microbiology and Microbial Genomics (BIOL-UA 44), Special Topics: Computing with Large Data Sets (BIOL-UA 120), Programming for Biologists (BIOL-GA 1007), Biological Databases and Data Mining (BIOL-GA 1009), Bioinformatics and Genomes (BIOL-GA 1127), Systems Biology (BIOL-GA 1128), or Applied Genomics: Introduction to Bioinformatics and Network Modeling (BIOL-GA 1130).

Minor in environmental biology: BIOL-UA 11, 12; BIOL-UA 123, or the equivalent; one of the following laboratory courses: Ecological Field Methods (BIOL-UA 16), Ecological Analysis with Geographic Information Systems (BIOL-UA 64), or At the Bench: Disease Ecology (BIOL-UA 500); two of the following: Biostatistics (BIOL-UA 42), Evolution (BIOL-UA 58), Fundamentals of Ecology (BIOL-UA 63), Biogeochemistry of Global Change (BIOL-UA 66), New York Underground (BIOL-UA 327), Current Topics in Earth System Sciences (BIOL-UA 332), or Urban Ecology (BIOL-UA 390).

Honors Program

Candidates for a degree with honors in biology must have an overall GPA of at least 3.65 and a minimum 3.65 GPA in all science and mathematics courses required for the major. It is the student's responsibility to secure a faculty member to sponsor the research and to provide laboratory space and equipment. All research credits should be completed by the end of the junior year.

In addition to all courses required for the biology major, students pursuing honors must also complete the following three courses (10 points):

• One semester of either Independent Study (BIOL-UA 997, 998; 4 points per term) or Internship (BIOL-UA 980, 981; 4 points per term). Department approval of laboratory-based research is required. Application forms are available online on the Department of Biology’s website. For biology majors on the standard track or on the ecology track, this research course may count as one of the five required upper-level elective courses. For GPH/science majors with concentration in biology, this research course may count as one of the two additional major electives (not as an emphasis area elective). Note that GPH/science majors with concentration in biology must also take Experiential Learning (UGPH-GU 60) as part of the core GPH requirements. It is recommended that honors track students enroll in section 002 (Individual Project) of UGPH-GU 60 while engaged in mentored research (but not in the same semester as BIOL-UA 980, 981, 997, or 998).
• Becoming a Scientist (BIOL-UA 995, 4 points): must be taken in the fall semester before graduation. This course does not count toward the reasoning skill category.
• Undergraduate Research Thesis (BIOL-UA 999, 2 points): must be taken in the final semester. Students prepare a written thesis based on the research results from their independent study or internship experience and defend the thesis at an oral examination before a faculty committee. Application forms, available online on the Department of Biology’s website, must be submitted by the beginning of the final semester.

General Information

Advanced Placement

Students who achieve a score of 4 or 5 on the College Entrance Examination Board Advanced Placement Examination in Biology (or have equivalent international exam credits) are exempted from taking the Principles of Biology I, II (BIOL-UA 11, 12) sequence. However, because of medical, dental, and other professional school requirements, students on the pre-health track cannot place out of Principles of Biology.

AP (or equivalent international exam credits) in chemistry cannot count toward any majors or minors offered by the Department of Biology, or substitute for General Chemistry I, II (CHEM-UA 125, 126) wherever this sequence is a corequisite or prerequisite for any BIOL-UA course.

Suggested Course Plans

For reference, suggested four-year course plans for biology majors, including those on the pre-health track and those in the global public health/science major with concentration in biology, are available on the official website of the Department of Biology.

Opportunities for study away that are appropriate for biology majors are available on the official website of the Department of Biology.

Graduate Courses

A number of courses in specialized fields are offered at the graduate level. Courses at the BIOL-GA 1000 level are available to undergraduates who have the necessary prerequisites. To take any of the relevant BIOL-GA 1000-level graduate courses in biology, students must obtain the approval of the course instructor and the director of undergraduate studies and have their registration material approved in the department's graduate office.

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Biology PhD Program

Supervising faculty.

• Program Structure

Current Students

• Application

NYU Shanghai, in partnership with the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science and the NYU Department of Biology, invites applications from exceptional students for PhD study and research in Biology.   Participating students are enrolled in the NYU GSAS Biology PhD program, complete their coursework at the NYU Department of Biology in New York, and then transition to full-time residence at NYU Shanghai where they undertake their doctoral research under the supervision of NYU Shanghai faculty.

Highlights of the Program

• NYU degree upon graduation
• Graduate coursework at the NYU Department of Biology in New York
• Research opportunities with and close mentorship by NYU Shanghai faculty
• Access to the vast intellectual resources of NYU GSAS and NYU Department of Biology
• Cutting-edge research environment at NYU Shanghai, including a thriving community of PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and research associates, activities such as a regular program of seminars and visiting academics, and links with other universities within and outside China
• Financial aid through the NYU Shanghai Doctoral Fellowship , including tuition, fees, and an annual stipend
• Additional benefits exclusive to the NYU Shanghai program, including international health insurance, housing assistance in New York, and travel funds

Genomics, Bioinformatics, Evolutionary Analysis of Large-Scale Genomics Data, Molecular Evolution, Computational Biology

Jungseog Kang

Chromosome Segregation, Mitosis, Antimitotic Cancer Drug Screen

Recent Publications by NYU Shanghai Faculty

• KBase: The United States Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase.Nature biotechnology 36 (7), 566, 2018
• Pangolin genomes and the evolution of mammalian scales and immunity Genome research 26(10):1312-1322, 2016
• Unknown unknowns: essential genes in quest for function. A Danchin, G Fang, Microbial biotechnology 9 (5), 530-540 2016
• Comparative analysis of the transcriptome across distant species Nature 512 (7515), 445 166 2014
• Transcriptomic and phylogenetic analysis of a bacterial cell cycle reveals strong associations between gene co-expression and evolution G Fang, KD Passalacqua, J Hocking, PM Llopis, M Gerstein, NH Bergman, BMC genomics 14 (1), 450, 2014

Jungseog Kang

• Improving drug discovery with high-content phenotypic screens by systematic selection of reporter cell lines. Kang J et. al. Nature Biotechnology (2016) 34:70-77.
• Mitotic centromeric targeting of HP1 and its binding to Sgo1 are dispensable for sister-chromatid cohesion in human cells. Kang J et. al. Mol. Biol. Cell (2011) 22:1181-1190.
• Kinase signaling in the spindle checkpoint. Kang J et. al. J. Biol. Chem. (2009) 284:15359-63.

Selected Faculty and Student Features

" Communicating Science: NYU Shanghai’s First Postdoctoral and Doctoral Research Assembly " (Xiaoai Lyu)

" A New Way to Screen Cancer Drugs " (Jungseog Kang)

" Professor Gang Fang Wins NYU GIPH Research Affinity Group Network Challenge " (Gang Fang)

Structure of Program

Participating students complete the PhD degree requirements set by the NYU Department of Biology and in accordance with the academic policies of NYU GSAS. Each student develops an individualized course and research plan in consultation with the Director of Graduate Study at the NYU Department of Biology and the student’s NYU Shanghai faculty advisor. A typical sequence follows:

Begin program with funded research rotation, up to 3 months preceding first Fall semester, to familiarize with NYU Shanghai and faculty as well as lay a foundation for future doctoral study.

Complete PhD coursework at Department of Biology alongside other NYU PhD students. 

Return to Shanghai for second funded research rotation to solidify relationships with NYU Shanghai faculty and make further progress in research.

Under supervision of NYU Shanghai faculty advisor, pursue dissertation research and continue coursework. Depending on each student’s individualized course of study, return visits to New York may also occur. Complete all required examinations and progress evaluations, both oral and written, leading up to submission and defense of doctoral thesis.

To learn more about the NYU Biology PhD program degree requirements, please visit this page .

Application Process and Dates

Applications are to be submitted through the NYU GSAS Application portal , within which students should select the Biology PhD as their program of interest, and then indicate their preference for NYU Shanghai by marking the appropriate checkbox when prompted. Applicants will be evaluated by a joint admissions committee of New York and Shanghai faculty. Application requirements are set by the NYU Department of Biology and are the same as those for all NYU PhD applicants, no matter their campus preference; however, candidates are recommended to elaborate in their application and personal statements about their specific interests in the NYU Shanghai program and faculty.

For admission in Fall 2024, the application deadline is December 1, 2023.

Interested students are welcome to contact Vivien Du , PhD Program Manager, at [email protected] with any inquiries or to request more information.

Molecular and Cell Biology (Minor)

Program description, minor declaration.

The science of biology reveals the workings of life in all its varied forms. The Department of Biology is home to world-class laboratories with faculty dedicated to pushing the frontiers of knowledge and educating the next generation of scientists and biomedical professionals. Research and teaching span the range of modern biology, from microbes to multicellular animals and plants, and from molecular and cellular processes to genetics, development, behavior, and evolution.

The department is committed to providing an education that is rigorous, exciting, and inclusive. Students are exposed to modern concepts and state-of-the-art methods throughout their studies, from introductory courses to upper-level electives that explore major fields of biology in depth. Education extends beyond the classroom as well. Students are encouraged to participate in laboratory research in the department and at other New York institutions. Students also may study away while advancing in the major, an opportunity for global engagement that science majors elsewhere typically do not have.

The biology majors and minors provide outstanding preparation for careers in research, academia, medicine, dentistry, and related fields. Graduates of the department have a remarkable record of success in acceptance into professional schools and in establishing notable careers in the biomedical sciences.

To request declaration of a minor, CAS students should visit the host department. To request declaration of a cross-school minor, CAS students should complete the online Minor Application available in their Albert Student Center. Students may also use the  Minor Application  in Albert to request cancellation of a CAS or cross-school minor.

Program Requirements

This minor requires the completion of five 4-credit courses plus one 1-credit lab (21 credits) with a grade of C or better (courses graded Pass/Fail do not count). Students interested in one of the minors offered by the Department of Biology should consult the director of undergraduate studies as early as possible to plan a course of study that best meets their needs.

NYU Policies

College of arts and science policies.

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages .

A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page . 

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Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology Faculty

Rafiou Agoro

Pilar Alcaide

Pablo Argueso

William Bachovchin

Christopher Baker

James Baleja

Lauren Black III

Robert Blanton Jr.

Ewelina Bolcun-Filas

Robert Braun

Peter Brooks

Rachel Buchsbaum

Peter Bullock

Robert Burgess

Alexei Bygrave

Gregory Carter

Chih-Hao Chang

Jake Jinkun Chen

Elissa Chesler

Michael Chin

Athar Chishti

Gary Churchill

Brent Cochran

John Coffin

Lidija Covic

Lenore Cowen

Christiane Dammann

Alexei Degterev

Christopher Dulla

Bethany Dumont

M. Elizabeth Fini

Michael Forgac

Catherine Freudenreich

Jonas Galper

Heather Gardner

Jonathan Garlick

Caroline Genco

Thomas Gridley

Pedram Hamrah

Victor Hatini

Ekaterina Heldwein

Philip Hinds

Gordon Huggins

Molecular and Cell Biology II

In-depth study of cell biology, with an emphasis on the molecular aspects of cell function. Topics include protein structure and synthesis, gene expression and its regulation, cell replication, and specialized cell structure and function. Provides an introduction to genomics and bioinformatics and examines developmental biology, evolution, and systems biology.

Format: Lecture, Recitation

Prerequisites: mcb1 (biol-ua 21), corequisites: none, location: new york, equivalent(s): biol-shu 22 (shanghai) biol-ua 9022 (tel aviv), course description, term(s) offered: 2023-2024 spring 2023-2024 spring 2022-2023 spring 2021-2022 spring 2020-2021 spring 2019-2020 spring 2018-2019 spring, requirements satisfied: major: biology standard track required major: ecology track upper-level elective advanced biology major: gph/biology required minor: molecular & cell biology required.

Computational Biology PhD

The main objective of the Computational Biology PhD is to train the next generation of scientists who are both passionate about exploring the interface of computation and biology, and committed to functioning at a high level in both computational and biological fields.

The program emphasizes multidisciplinary competency, interdisciplinary collaboration, and transdisciplinary research, and offers an integrated and customizable curriculum that consists of two semesters of didactic course work tailored to each student’s background and interests, research rotations with faculty mentors spanning computational biology’s core disciplines, and dissertation research jointly supervised by computational and biological faculty mentors.

The  Computational Biology Graduate Group  facilitates student immersion into UC Berkeley’s vibrant computational biology research community. Currently, the Group includes over 46 faculty from across 14 departments of the College of Letters and Science, the College of Engineering, the College of Natural Resources, and the School of Public Health. Many of these faculty are available as potential dissertation research advisors for Computational Biology PhD students, with more available for participation on doctoral committees.

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Juan de Pablo

Executive Vice President for Global Science and Technology, New York University

Executive Dean of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Dr. Juan de Pablo is the University’s inaugural Executive Vice President for Global Science and Technology, and the Executive Dean of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He leads cross-University, multidisciplinary, and globally focused efforts to accelerate the momentum of NYU’s vast science and technology enterprise for the purposes of solving humanity’s largest challenges. Dovetailing with those efforts, de Pablo steers Tandon’s engineering research and education to play a central role in addressing a multitude of areas, from human health, to advances in materials discovery, to the sustainability of the planet. 

Before joining NYU, Dr. de Pablo served as the Executive Vice President for Science, Innovation, National Laboratories, and Global Initiatives at the University of Chicago; the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering at Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering; and a Senior Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. Prior to that, he served as the Howard Curler Distinguished Professor and Hilldale Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.

A prominent materials scientist and chemical engineer, de Pablo’s research focuses on polymers, biological macromolecules such as proteins and DNA, glasses, and liquid crystals. He is a leader in developing molecular models and advanced computational approaches to elucidate complex molecular processes over wide ranges of length and time scales. He has developed advanced algorithms to design and predict the structure and properties of complex fluids and solids at a molecular level, and has been a pioneer in the use of data-driven machine learning approaches for materials design. 

Dr. de Pablo is the author or co-author of well over 650 publications and a textbook on Molecular Engineering Thermodynamics. He holds more than 25 patents, one of which has been deemed critical to the semiconductor industry’s miniaturization goals and one of which is now used throughout the world to stabilize proteins and cells, including probiotics, in glassy materials over extended periods of time.

His many honors include the Polymer Physics Prize from the American Physical Society in 2018, the DuPont Medal for Excellence in Nutrition and Health Sciences in 2016, the Intel Patterning Science Award in 2015, and the Charles Stine Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 2011. 

In 2016, he was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering for the “design of macromolecular products and processes via scientific computation.” In 2022 he was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and is a foreign correspondent member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences.

Amongst other distinctions, he has delivered the Lacey Lectures at Caltech (2020), the Dodge Lectures at Yale (2018), and the National Science Foundation’s Mathematical and Physical Sciences Lecture (2018). He has chaired the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation and the Committee on Condensed Matter and Materials Research at the National Research Council. He is the founding editor of Molecular Systems Design and Engineering , and served as deputy editor of Sciences Advances and Physical review Letters . He served as the co-director of the NIST Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD) from 2013 to 2024 .

University of California, Berkeley Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, 1990

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) B.S., Chemical Engineering, 1985

Select Publications

Zhang, R., A. Mozaffari, and J.J. de Pablo, Logic operations with active topological defects. Science Advances, 2022. 8(8).

Rumyantsev, A.M., O.V. Borisov, and J.J. de Pablo, Structure and Dynamics of Hybrid Colloid-Polyelectrolyte Coacervates. Macromolecules, 2023. 56(4): p. 1713-1730.

Atzin, N., et al., Minimal Model of Solitons in Nematic Liquid Crystals. Physical Review Letters, 2023. 131(18).

Zhang, R., et al., Spatiotemporal control of liquid crystal structure and dynamics through activity patterning. Nature Materials, 2021. 20(6): p. 875.

Molla, M.R., et al., Dynamic actuation of glassy polymersomes through isomerization of a single azobenzene unit at the block copolymer interface. Nature Chemistry, 2018. 10(6): p. 659-666.

Wu, Q., et al., Poly -n- catenanes: Synthesis of molecular interlocked chains. Science, 2017. 358(6369): p. 1434-1439.

Sadati, M., et al., Molecular Structure of Canonical Liquid Crystal Interfaces. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2017. 139(10): p. 3841-3850.

Freeman, G., et al., DNA Shape Dominates Sequence Affinity in Nucleosome Formation. Phys. Rev. Letters, 2013. 113, 16, 168101.

Ruiz, R., et al., Density multiplication and improved lithography by directed block copolymer assembly, Science, 2008. 32, 589, 936.

Buchanan, Le.E. et al., Mechanism of IAPP amyloid fibril formation involves an intermediate with a transient β-sheet, PNAS, 2013. 110 (48) , pp.19285-19290.

Singh, S; Ediger, MD and de Pablo, JJ, Ultrastable glasses from in silico vapour deposition, Nature Materials, 2013. 12 (2) , pp.139-144.

Jendrejack J., et al., DNA dynamics in a microchannel. Phys. Rev. Lett., 2003. 91, 3, 038102.

DS Fryer, PF Nealey, JJ de Pablo. “Thermal probe measurements of the glass transition temperature for ultrathin polymer films as a function of thickness.” Macromolecules 33 (17), 6439-6447. (2000)

JA Torres, PF Nealey, JJ de Pablo. “Molecular simulation of ultrathin polymeric films near the glass transition.” Physical Review Letters 85 (15), 3221. (2000)  

IH Lin, DS Miller, PJ Bertics, CJ Murphy, JJ de Pablo, NL Abbott. “Endotoxin-induced structural transformations in liquid crystalline droplets.” Science 332 (6035), 1297-1300. (2011)  

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