B.S., Caltech, 1994; Ph.D., University of Southern California, 2001. Visiting Associate, Caltech, 2001; Beckman Senior Research Fellow, 2001-04; Senior Research Fellow, Computation and Neural Systems and Computer Science, 2004-08; Senior Research Associate, 2008-.

phone: 626-390-0438
location: 231 Moore
mail code: 136-93

Research Group |

Molecular programming and algorithms, DNA computation, nucleic acid structure and thermodynamics, principles of self-assembly, nanotechnology, bionanolithography, using DNA nanostructures as instrumentation for biochemistry and biophysics

My research interests lie at the interface of computer science, biology, and chemistry. By this I do not mean the application of computer science to solve problems in biology or chemistry such as the protein folding problem. Rather, I am interested in how processes in biology and chemistry can actually act as computers and execute molecular algorithms. In August 2008, a group of 6 Caltech and University of Washington PIs were awarded a $10 million National Science Foundation Grant for developing this idea: The Molecular Programming Project. There are several video presentations linked from this site about Molecular Programming, including a public talk which I delivered at the TED conference.