Gopinathan Group Home Page
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Our theoretical research focuses on a variety of problems in biophysics, soft condensed matter and the interface between the two fields. Our primary research area is Biological Transport focusing on understanding how material, such as macromolecules and vesicles are transported within the cell and across membranes. The main question that we have been pursuing is - How are transport properties affected by the structure and dynamics of the environment in which the transport takes place? In the cellular context, the environment is structurally complex and exhibits unique dynamical properties. This results in novel types of transport phenomena and effects that in vivo systems manage to remarkably exploit. Examples include polymer transport across membrane pores, macromolecular transport through nuclear pores and motor driven intracellular transport.
In addition, we are involved in a number of other projects including cytoskeletal network dynamics, biopolymer aggregates, chemotaxis, drug design, wrinkling/crumpling of elastic sheets, transport in disordered and/or confined geometries and fluctuation induced forces.
Our group is affiliated with the following graduate groups: Quantitative and Systems Biology, Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and Physics and Chemistry.
Ajay Gopinathan wins a 2009 James S. McDonnell Foundation Award
Igor Goncharenko advances to candidacy