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Scholarly Interest Report
         
Jason H. Hafner
Professor
Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry
 
e-mail:hafner@rice.edu
 
  • B.S. Physics (1993) Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
  • M.A. Physics (1996) Rice University, Houston, TX
  • Ph.D. Physics (1998) Rice University, Houston, TX
 
Primary Department
   Department of Physics and Astronomy
Picture
 
Department Affiliations
 
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Rice Quantum Institute
  • Scientia
  • Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology
  •  
    Websites
     Hafner Lab
     PHYS102x on edX
     PHYS201x on edX
     
    Research Areas
     Biophysics, Nanoscience
     

    Hafner Lab

     

    My lab works at the intersection of modern research directions in the physical and biological sciences. On the physical side, the past two decades have seen a strong emphasis on nanometer-scale science and technology, both in the development of new tools to explore nanometer-scale systems and in the novel physical properties that emerge at that scale. On the biological side, there has been a drive toward more quantitative research, including a growing sense that life's complex molecular constituents must be studied as interacting systems rather than in isolation. These trends represent significant challenges and have encouraged interdisciplinary work in the physical and biological sciences. I have directed my lab's research towards scientific questions and technical challenges at this physical/biological interface. I have focused specifically on two areas: Membrane Electrostatics and Biological Nanophotonics. Membrane Electrostatics The biological membrane is the least understood and arguably the most important cellular component since it forms the boundary between the cell and its environment, as well as the boundary for the cell's organelles. These membranes consist of a 2-D sheet of thousands of different types of amphiphilic molecules which are highly mobile in the membrane plane. Since the extreme complexity of natural biological membranes often precludes a fundamental understanding of their physical properties, researchers turn to synthetic phospholipid bilayers as membrane models. These lipid membranes create a complex electrostatic environment due to their high density of charged and dipolar chemical groups and their large variation in dielectric constant between the aqueous and hydrophobic phases. Since electrostatic effects are ubiquitous in biomolecular interactions, it is imperative to understand the membrane's electrostatic environment and how it depends on lipid composition. We have applied the atomic force microscope (AFM) to this research area. We have mapped the surface potential of heterogeneous membranes at nanometer-scale resolution, and measured the dipole potential of lipid membranes. Biological Nanophotonics Gold and silver nanoparticles exhibit strong spectral scattering and absorption peaks at visible wavelengths due to a resonant excitation of their free electrons referred to as a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). While the theoretical basis for this effect was described 100 years ago, research in the field has exploded over the past decade due to new chemical and lithographic methods to produce nanoparticles with controlled shape and tunable plasmon resonances. Our work on biological and biomedical applications of LSPR requires an interdisciplinary approach which includes studies of nanoparticle optical properties (physics), synthesis and surface modification (chemistry), and interactions with biological systems (molecular biology). Our goal is to make fundamental advances in these areas to support the powerful diagnostic and therapeutic biomedical applications of LSPR nanoparticles. In addition, we are developing LSPR-based immunoassays that are needed to measure simultaneous expression levels of many proteins to unravel complex biological networks.

     
    Teaching Areas
     Waves and Optics, Electricity and Magnetism
     
    Selected Publications
     Refereed articles
     

    Payne, C. M.; Tsentalovich, D. E.; Benoit, D. N.; Anderson, L. J. E.; Guo, W.; Colvin, V. L.; Pasquali, M.; Hafner, J. H., Synthesis and Crystal Structure of Gold Nanobelts. Chemistry of Materials, volume 26, page 1999-2004, 2014.

     
     

    Matthews, J. R.; Payne, C. M.; Hafner, J. H.; "The Structures and Phases of Supported Lipid Membranes on Gold Nanorods according to Plasmon Resonance Sensing and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering", Nano Letters, under revision, 2014.

     
     

    Balamurugan, S.; Mayer, K. M.; Lee, S.; Soper, S. A.; Hafner, J. H.; Spivak, D. A. Nanostructure shape effects on response of plasmonic aptamer sensors, Journal of Molecular Recognition 2013, 26 (9), 402-407

     
     

    Payne, C. M.; Anderson, L. J. E.; Hafner, J. H.; Novel Plasmonic Structures Based on Gold Nanobelts, Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2013, 117 (9), 4734-4739.

     
     

    Anderson, L. J. E.; Zhen, Y.-R.; Payne, C. M.; Nordlander, P.; Hafner, J. H. Gold Nanobelts as High Confinement Plasmonic Waveguides, Nano Letters 2013, 13 (12), 6256-6261.

     
     

    Halas, N. J.; Lal, S.; Link, S.; Chang, W.-S.; Natelson, D.; Hafner, J. H.; Nordlander, P., A Plethora of Plasmonics from the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University, Advanced Materials 2012, 24, 4842-4877.

     
     

    Lal, S.; Hafner, J. H.; Halas, N. J.; Link, S.; Nordlander, P.; Plasmonic Nanowires: from waveguiding to Passive and Active Devices, Accounts of Chemical Research 2012, 45 (11), 1887-1895.

     
     

    Lee, S.; Hahm, M. G.; Vajtai, R.; Hashim, D. P.; Thurakitseree, T.; Cipara, A. C.; Ajayan, P. M.; Hafner, J. H.; Ultra-high density gold nanoparticles decorated vertically aligned carbon nanotubes with 3D SERS-active volumes, Advanced Materials 2012, 24 (38), 5261-5266.

     
     

    Wang, C. U.; Arai, Y.; Kim, I.; Jang, W.; Lee, S.; Hafner, J. H.; Jeoung, E.; Jung, D.; Kwon, Y.; Surface-modified Gold Nanorods for Specific Cell Targeting, Journal of the Korean Physical Society 2012, 60 (10), 1700-1707.

     
     

    Anderson, L. J. E.; Payne, C. M.; Zhen, Y.-R.; Nordlander, P. N.; Hafner, J. H. "A Tunable Plasmon Resonance in Gold Nanobelts." Nano Letters, 11 (2011) : 5034-5037.

     
     

    Lee, S.; Anderson, L. J. E.; Payne, C. M.; Hafner, J. H. "A Structural Transition in the Surfactant Layer that Surrounds Gold Nanorods Observed by Analytical Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy." Langmuir, 27 (2011) : 14748-14756.

     
     

    Mayer, K. M.; Hafner, J. H. "Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors." Chemical Reviews, 111 (2011) : 3828-3857.

     
     

    Lee, S.; Mayer, K. M.; Hafner, J. H. An Improved Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Immunoassay with Gold Bipyramid Substrates.  Analytical Chemistry (2009): 81, 4450-4455.

     
     

    Lukianova-Hleb, E. Y.; Hanna, E. Y.; Hafner, J. H.; Lapotko, D. O., Tunable plasmonic nanobubbles for cell theranostics. Nanotechnology (2010): 21, 085102

     
     

    Rostro-Kohanloo, B.C.; Bickford, L. R.; Payne, C. M.; Day, E. S.; Anderson, L. J. E.; Zhong, M.; Lee, S.; Mayer, K. M; Zal, T.; Adam, L.; Dinney, C. P. N.; Drezek, R. A.; West, J. L.; Hafner, J. H. Stabilization and Targeting of Surfactant-Synthesized Gold Nanorods. Nanotechnology (2009): 20, 434005.

     
     

    Hleb, E. Y.; Hafner, J. H.; Myers, J. N.; Hanna, E. Y.; Rostro, B. C.; Zhdanok, S. A.; Lapotko, D. O. "LANTCET: elimination of solid tumor cells with photothermal bubbles generated around clusters of gold nanoparticles.." Nanomedicine, 3 (2008) : 647-667.

     
     

    Hleb, E. Y.; Hu, Y.; Drezek, R. A.; Hafner, J. H.; Lapotko, D. O. "Photothermal bubbles as optical scattering probes for imaging living cells." Nanomedicine, 3 (2008) : 797-812.

     
     

    Mayer, K. M.; Lee, S.; Liao, H.; Rostro, B. C.; Fuentes, A.; Scully, P. T.; Nehl, C. L.; Hafner, J. H. "A label-free immunoassay based upon localized surface plasmon resonance of gold nanorods." ACS Nano, 2 (2008) : 687-692.

     
     

    Nehl, C. L.; Hafner, J. H. "Shape-dependent plasmon resonances of gold nanoparticles." Journal of Materials Chemistry, 18 (2008) : 2415-2419.

     
     

    Yang, Y.; Mayer, K. M.; Wickremasinghe, N. S.; Hafner, J. H. "Probing the Lipid Membrane Dipole Potential by Atomic Force Microscopy." Biophysical Journal, 95 (2008) : 5193-5199.

     
     

    F. Hao, C. L. Nehl, J. H. Hafner, P. Nordlander "Plasmon Resonances of a Gold Nanostar." Nano Letters, 7 (2007) : 729-732.

     
     

    Y. Yang, K. M. Mayer, J. H. Hafner "Quantitative Membrane Electrostatics with the Atomic Force Microscope." Biophysical Journal, 92 (2007) : 1-9.

     
     Articles
     

    Journal of Controlled Release 2010, 144, 151.

     
     

    J. Phys. Chem. C. 2010, 114, 11127-11132.

     
     

    Nanotechnology 2010, 21, 085102.

     
     

    Nanotechnology 2010, 21, 225102.

     
     

    ACS Nano 2010, 4, 2109-2123.

     
     

    Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2010, 12, (38), 12237-12244.

     
     

    Nanotechnology 2010, 21, 255503.

     
     

    Biomaterials 2010, 31, (29), 7567-7574.

     
     Other
     

    Chan, W.C.W; Gogotsi, Y.; Hafner, J.H.; Mohwald, H.; Hammond, P.T.; Mulvaney, P.A.; Hersam, M.C.; Nel, A.E.; Javey, A.; Nordlander, P.J.; Kagan, C.R.; Parak, W.J.; Khademhosseini, A.; Penner, R.M.; Kotov, N.A.; Rogach, A.L.; Lee, S.T.; Schaak, R.e.; Stevens, M.M.; Willson, C.G.; Wee, A.T.S; Weiss, P.S.; "A Year for Nanoscience", ACS Nano vol. 8, pages 11901-11903, 2014.

     
     

    Hafner, J. H. Sensing and Sensibility, ACS Nano editorial, February 2013.

     
     

    Parak, W.J.; Javey, A.; Chan, W. C. W.; Khademhosseini, A.; Hafner, J. H.; Kotov, N. A.; Hammond, P. T.; Mulvaney, P.; Hersam, M. C.; Nel, A. E.; Nordlander, P. J.; Sevens, M. M.; Penner, R. M.; Wee A. T. S.; Rogach, A. L.; Willson, C. G.; Schaak, R. E.; Weiss, P. S., Be Critical But Fair, ACS Nano editorial, October 2013.

     
     

    Bonnell, D. A.; Buriak, J. M.; Hafner, J. H.; Hammond, P. T.; Hersam, M. C.; Javey, A.; Kotov, N. A.; Nordlander, P.; Parak, W. J.; Rogach, A. L.; Schaak, R. L.; Stevens, M. M.; War, A. T. S.; Willson, C. G.; Weiss, P. S.; “We Take It Personally”, ACS Nano editorial December 2012

     
     

    Bonnell, D. A.; Buriak, J. M.; Hafner, J. H.; Hammond, P. T.; Hersam, M. C.; Javey, A.; Kotov, N. A.; Nordlander, P.; Parak, W. J.; Rogach, A. L.; Schaak, R. L.; Stevens, M. M.; War, A. T. S.; Willson, C. G.; Weiss, P. S. “Recycling Is Not Always Good: The Dangers of Self Plagiarism.” ACS Nano editorial, Jan 2012.

     
     

    Hafner, J. H. “Someone Is Going To Pay For This,” ACS Nano editorial, June 2012

     
     

    Hafner, J. H.; Nordlander, P. N.; Weiss, P. S. "Virtual Issue on Plasmonics." ACS Nano, 5 (2011) : 4245-4248.

     
     

    Tierny, H.L.; Bonnell, D.A.; Buriak, J.M.; Hafner, J.H.; Hammond, P.T.; Rogach, A.L.; Hersam, M.C.; Schaak, R.E.; Javey, A.; Stevens, M.M.; Kotov, N.A.; Wee, A.T.S.; Nordlander, P.; Willson, C.G.; Parak, W.J.; Weiss, P.S. "ACS Nano in 2011 and Looking Forward to 2012." ACS Nano, 5 (2011) : 9301-9302.

     
     

    ACS Nano editorial, May 2010.

     
     

    ACS Nano 2010, 4, (10), 5513-5514.

     
    Presentations
     Invited Talks
     

    Hafner, J. H., "Illuminating Chemical Interfaces with Plasmonics", ACS Nano Symposium, California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, Aug. 8, 2014.

     
     

    A Physicist Gets Art (For The First Time), Rice Gallery Professor's Perspective Lecture on "Unwoven Light" by Soo Sunny Park, Houston, TX, April 16, 2013.

     
     

    Illuminating Chemical Interfaces with Plasmonics, Department of Chemistry Colloquium, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, August 25, 2013.

     
     

    Plasmonics with Gold Nanobelts, JSU-UCSB PREM Annual Meeting, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, Aug. 31, 2013.

     
     

    “Plasmonics with Gold Nanobelts”, Optically Active Nanostructures symposium at the Materials Research Society meeting, Boston, MA, Nov. 30, 2012.

     
     

    "A Tunable Plasmon Resonance in Gold Nanobelts." Nanotech 2011, New York, NY. (November 3, 2011)

     
     

    "Analytical Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering on Nanoparticles and Nanostructures." Indiana University Purdue University at Indainapolis, Indianapolis, IN. (November 9, 2011)

     
     

    "Analytical Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering on Nanoparticles and Nanostructures." Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. (November 8, 2011)

     
     

    "Analytical Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering on Nanoparticles and Nanostructures." University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX. (September 21, 2011)

     
     

    "Illuminating Chemical Interfaces with Plasmonics." Trinity University, San Antonio, TX. (April 21, 2011)

     
     

    Center for Nanostructured Materials, Columbia University, New York, NY

     
     

    Chinese-American Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium, Irvine, CA.

     
     

    Plasmonic Materials and Metamaterials Symposium, 2010 MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA,

     
     

    "Biological Sensing and Interaction Analysis with Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance." Emerging Technologies for Systems Biology Symposium, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. (August 12, 2009)

     
     

    "Probing the Lipid Membrane Dipole Potential." Gulf Coast Consortium for Membrane Biology Symposium, Houston, TX. (January 16, 2009)

     
     

    "Synthesis, Optics, and Biological Applications of Plasmon Resonant Gold Nanoparticles." 2nd Symposium of the Asian Research Network, Seoul, South Korea. (May 17, 2009)

     
     

    "Biological Applications of Plasmon Resonant Nanoparticles." Nanobiology Training Program Summer Symposium, Houst, TX. (July 15, 2008)

     
     

    "Biological Sensing with Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances." Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, San Fancisco, CA. (March 27, 2008)

     
     

    "Biological sensing with localized surface plasmon resonances." Advances in Nanomedicine Symposium, 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Philadelphia, PA. (August 18, 2008)

     
     

    "Biological sensing with localized surface plasmon resonances." University of Minnesota Center for Nanostructure Applications Workshop, Minneapolis, MN. (November 13, 2008)

     
     

    "Biomedical Applications of Plasmon Resonant Gold Nanoparticles." Dept. of Cancer Biology and Cancer Metastasis Research Center Seminar Series, Houston, TX. (February 12, 2008)

     
     

    "Biomedical Applications of Plasmon Resonant Nanoparticles." Houston Society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology 25th Annual Conference, Houston, TX. (March 7, 2008)

     
     

    "Bioplasmonics with Gold Nanorods and Nanostars." Gordon Research Conference on Plasmonics, Keene, NH. (July 27, 2006)

     
     

    "Biosensing with localized surface plasmon resonances in single gold nanostars." 62nd Southwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Houston, TX. (October 19, 2006)

     
     

    "Electrostatic and Recognition interactions in the Atomic Force Microscope,." Bioanalytical Chemistry Seminar, U. Wisconsin, Madison, WI. (February 23, 2006)

     
     

    "Electrostatic and Recognition interactions in the Atomic Force Microscope,." Chemistry Colloquium, Ohio University, Athens, OH. (May 24, 2006)

     
     

    "Gold Nanorods and Nanostars for Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensing,." The Molecular Signature of Cancer - From Bench to Clinic and Back again, St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. (January 13, 2006)

     
     

    "Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing with Gold Nanorods and Nanostars,." Biomedical Engineering Seminar, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. (February 13, 2006)

     
     

    "Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing with Gold Nanorods and Nanostars,." HSEMB 2006, Invited Lectures at the Nano-Bio Interface, University of Houston, Houston, TX. (February 10, 2006)

     
     

    "Plasmon Resonances in Structurally Complex Gold Nanoparticles." Electrical and Computer Engineering Seminar, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. (November 2, 2006)

     
     

    "Plasmon Resonances in Structurally Complex Gold Nanoparticles,." Condensed Matter and Surface Science Colloquium, Ohio University, Athens OH. (May 25, 2006)

     
     

    "Probing Membrane Electrostatics." Department of Materials Science and Engineering Seminar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. (October 25, 2006)

     
     

    "Probing Membrane Electrostatics with the Atomic Force Microscopy,." Cells and Materials: At the interface between Mathematics, Biology, and Engineering, Insitute for Pure & Applied Mathematics, Los Angeles, CA. (March 28, 2006)

     
     

    "Synthesis, Optics, and Applications of Plasmon Resonant Gold Nanoparticles." Physical Chemistry Seminar, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. (October 26, 2006)

     
     

    "Biological Applications of Plasmon Resonant Nanoparticles." Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. (March 10, 2005)

     
     

    "Biological Applications of Plasmon Resonant Nanoparticles." Baylor College of Medicine Initiative in Translational Research, Houston, TX. (March 14, 2005)

     
     

    "Gold Nanorod Bioconjugates." 207th Electrochemical Society Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, CA. (May 15, 2005)

     
     

    "Gold Nanorods and Nanostars for Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensing." Photonic Nanosystems 2005, San Francisco, CA. (November 8, 2005)

     
     Lectures
     

    Weaving Optics and Art: What's Light Got To Do With It? with Gigi Nevils-Noe and Matthew Schlief, Houston Arts Partners Conference, Houston, TX, Sept. 13, 2013.

     
     

    "Gold Nanorod Bioconjugates." Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA. (Feb. 18, 2005)

     
     

    "Protein Crystal Tips for Bio-Recognition Atomic Force Microscopy." American Physical Society March Meeting, Los Angeles, CA. (March 21, 2005)

     
     

    "Protein Crystals as Scanned Probes." Cancun 2005: Scanning Probe Microscopy, Sensors, and Nanostructures, Cancun, Mexico. (June 5, 2005)

     
     Session Chair
     

    "Bionanotechnology." First Annual Institute for Biosciences and Bioengineering Symposium, Houston, TX. (July 7, 2005)

     
    Editorial Positions
     Associate Editor, ACS Nano. ACS Publications. (2010 - 2014)

     Associate Editor, ACS Nano. ACS Publications. (2009 - 2009)

     Associate Editor, ACS Nano. ACS Publications. (2011 - 2011)

     Associate Editor, ACS Nano. ACS Publications. (2012 - 2012)

    Supervised Theses & Dissertations
     Bin Gong, M.A. Overview of Jovian Aurora's Observed Features and Its Possible Origins. (2002) (Committee Member)

     Carla Aguirre, M.S. Reshaping the Metallic surface of a Gold Nanoshell. (2002) (Committee Member)

     Cristin Moran, Ph.D. Metallodielectric Nanostructures. (2003) (Committee Member)

     Amber S. Johnson, M.S. Fluid Electric Force Microscopy. (2003) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Colleen Nehl, M.S. Scattering Spectra of Single Gold Nanoshells. (2004) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Michael Cooke, M.S. D0. (2004) (Committee Member)

     Nathaniel Grady, M.S. Plasmon Resonances in Gold Nanoshells. (2004) (Committee Member)

     Felicia Tam, M.S. Gold Nanoshells. (2004) (Committee Member)

     Sarah Nagel, M.S. A Narrow Linewidth Diode Laser System for Strontium Laser Cooling Applications. (2004) (Committee Member)

     Hao Yang, M.S. Measuring the magnetic field on the classical T Tauri star TW Hydrae. (2005) (Committee Member)

     Fei Le, M.S. Plasmon Hybridization. (2005) (Committee Member)

     Siyang Sun, Ph.D. Biochemical and crystallographic studies of bacteriophage RB69 DNA polymerase and single-stranded DNA binding protein interactions. (2005) (Committee Member)

     Nissanka Wickremasinghe, M.S. Probing Molecular Recognition with Protein Crystals. (2005) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Siyang Sun, Ph.D. Biochemical and crystallographic studies of bacteriophage RB69 DNA polymerase and single-stranded DNA binding protein interactions. (2005) (Committee Member)

     Fei Le, M.S. Plasmon Hybridization. (2005) (Committee Member)

     Nissanka Wickremasinghe, M.S. Probing Molecular Recognition with Protein Crystals. (2005) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Hao Yang, M.S. Measuring the magnetic field on the classical T Tauri star TW Hydrae. (2005) (Committee Member)

     Felicia Tam, Ph.D. Optmization of the Nanoshell Geomitry for Plasmon enahcned fluorescence. (2007) (Committee Member)

     Kathryn Mayer , M.S. Gold nanorod substrates for LSPR biosensing. (2007) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Madhu Thalakulam, Ph.D. Development and Study of Charge Sensors for Fast Charge detection in Quantum Dots. (2007) (Committee Member)

     Colleen Nehl , Ph.D. Singe Nanoparticle Spectroscopy: Plasmonic Properties and Biosensing Applicaions. (2007) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Kristjan Stone, M.S. Quantum Transport in Carbon Nanotubes. (2007) (Committee Member)

     Albert Chang , M.S. Plasmonic Coupling of a Gold Colloid and a Gold Film. (2007) (Committee Member)

     Sean Pheasant, Ph.D. Chirality Control of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Surfaces and Optimization of Their Growth in Vertically-Aligned Arrays. (2007) (Committee Member)

     John-David Rocha, Ph.D. Fluorescence Spectroscopy of Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes. (2007) (Committee Member)

     Andre Gobin , Ph.D. Photothermal Therapies Using Near Infrared Absorbing Nanoparticles. (2007) (Committee Member)

     Shuo Qian, M.S. Structure of the Alamethicin Pore Reconstructed by X-ray Diffraction Analysis. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Alexandra Fursina, M.S. High-aspect-ratio nanogaps for investigation of magnetite nanosystems and assembled molecules. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Seunhyung Lee, M.S. Self Assembled Monolayer Formation on Gold Nanorods. (2008) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Kenneth Wilson, Ph.D. Processing of Single-Walled Carbon-Nanotube Metal Matrix Composites and a Finite Element Model for the Process. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Daniel Brandl, Ph.D. Plasmon hybridization in Generalized Metallic nanostructures. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Emily Day, M.S. Enhancement of Cancer Therapy through Targeted Delivery of Nanoshells. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Fei Li, Ph.D. Plasmonic Properties of Nanoparticle-Film Systems and Periodic Nanoparticle Arrays. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Lissett Bickford, M.S. Silica-based Gold Nanoshells as Contrast Agents for Intraoperative Breast Cancer Tumor Margin Detection. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Laura McJilton, Ph.D. Controlled Synthesis of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Wangchen Wang, Ph.D. Structural Study on Lipid Membrane by X-ray Anomalous Diffraction. (2008) (Committee Member)

     Britt Lassiter, M.S. Close Encounters between Two Nanoshells. (2008) (Co-Director)

     Yen Sun, MS Defense. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Tae-Ho Park, MS Defense. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Lindsey Anderson, MS Defense. (2009) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Shuo Qian, PHD Dissertation. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Kui Bao, MS Defense. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Nolan Harris, PHD Dissertation. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Jorge Zuloaga, MS Defense. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Yi Yang, PHD Dissertation. (2009) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Daniel Stark, MS Defense. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Feng Hao, PHD Dissertation. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Konstantinos Tsekouras, PHD Dissertation. (2009) (Committee Member)

     Nissanka Wickremesingha, PHD Dissertation. (2010) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Auone Barhouni, PhD title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Seunghyun Lee, PhD title. (2011) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Pramit Manna, Phd title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Ramsey Kumar, PhD title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Yen Sun, PhD title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Emily Day, PhD title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Saunab Ghosh, PhD title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Jorge Zuloaga, PhD title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Daniel Stark, PhD title. (2011) (Committee Member)

     Lindsey Elaine Anderson, Ph.D. Plasmonics of Gold Nanobelts. (2013) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Courtney M. Payne, Ph.D. Anisotropic Noble Metal Nanomaterials for Analytical Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. (2014) (Thesis or Dissertation Director)

     Britain Willingham, MS Defense. (Committee Member)

     Fu Kun , Ph.D. Polarized Angular Dependent Light Scattering from Plasmonic Nanoparticles: Modeling, Measurements, and Biomedical Applications. (Committee Member)

    Awards, Prizes, & Fellowships
     Fellow, Center for Teaching Excellence, Rice Center for Teaching Excellence

     Norman Hackerman Award for Chemical Research, Robert A. Welch Foundation (January 27, 2011)

     Hamill Innovation Award, Institute for Biosciences and Bioengineering (April 1, 2008)

     Commendation for Excellence in Technical Communication, Laser Focus World (2006)

     Smalley-Curl Award for Research Innovation, Rice University (12/15/04)

     Beckman Young Investigator Award, Beckman Foundation (04/15/02)

    Positions Held
     Member, Scientia. (2013 - 2014)

     Fellow, Center for Teaching Excellence. (2013 - 2014)

     Associate Director, Laboratory For Nanophotonics. (2005 - 2005)