Title & abstract TBA
The Kaufman group supports a diverse and continually evolving program of research in frontier areas at the intersection of chemistry, physics, and biology. Thematically, our core interests are in the study of unusual dynamics of crowded and complex systems, and technically our research is driven by high resolution imaging and its integration with complementary approaches. Recent work is centered in two long-standing research thrusts in the laboratory as well as in a developing area of interest. In particular, we (1) use single molecule imaging to detail the characteristics and origin of atypical relaxations in molecular and polymeric supercooled liquids, (2) apply super-resolution and other single particle techniques to elucidate structure-function relationships in conjugated polymers, paving the way to fine control of their photophysics, and (3) exploit tools for biopolymer gel design and characterization developed in our laboratory to investigate modes of cancer cell motility that are relevant in vivo.