Researchers of Emory

Joseph Piccolo  is a Senior majoring in Physics. He was awarded a Summer 2019 Conference Grant which he used to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) . I work with the Emory Physics Department as an undergraduate researcher. My principal investigator, Dr. Laura Finzi, specializes in biophysics. Biophysics is the study of biological systems, such as a strand of DNA, using physics approaches. In the Finzi lab, we study the mechanics of DNA and epigenetic gene regulation. One way we study these topics is through the use of magnetic tweezers. In these studies, we attach a microscopic magnet to a single strand of DNA and exert forces on it using a macroscopic magnet we control in the lab. Additionally, we measure how the DNA responds to these forces. Traditionally, magnetic tweezers have been bar magnets mounted on the data collection microscope. The bar magnet is moved around the sample by mechanical motors, allowing us to generate forces on the DNA. ...

Mia Morrell  is a sophomore majoring in Physics. She was awarded a Spring 2018 Conference Grant which she used to attend the American Physical Society Meeting in Los Angeles. When shaking parmesan cheese on your pizza, have you mused in frustration why the cheese always seems to clog up in the holes of its container? Have you ever clogged a toilet and wondered what led to this most unfortunate form of humiliation? Or on a more serious note, have you contemplated the arterial clotting of human blood cells in the early phases of a stroke? Our plexiglass hopper chamber displaying hydrogel particles in a clogged state. These questions have fascinated me ever since I was introduced to soft matter physics upon my freshman year at Emory. During my time in Emory University’s  Weeks lab , which focuses on soft matter and complex systems , I have studied soft particle clogging in two dimensions , devising experiments which can be applied to the previously cited situations o...