Abstract: <\/strong>Biological systems are unique because they are hierarchically assembled from energy-using Bio<\/strong>: Ross is an award-winning biophysicist studying the organization of the microtubule cytoskeleton Wednesday, October 21, 2026 @ 1:00pm (CST) in Commons Center 235\/ 237<\/p>\n Host: Eva Karasmanis<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jenny Ross, Syracuse University The physics of biological active matter Abstract: Biological systems are unique because they are hierarchically assembled from energy-using subunits, from the nanoscale all the way to the macroscale. This gives biological systems novel abilities such as self-organized development, self-healing, and memory and learning. We seek to recapitulate and understand the fundamental…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3158"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3183,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3158\/revisions\/3183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/physics-astronomy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nsubunits, from the nanoscale all the way to the macroscale. This gives biological systems novel
\nabilities such as self-organized development, self-healing, and memory and learning. We seek to
\nrecapitulate and understand the fundamental mechanisms of these phenomena using reconstituted
\nsystems built from the bottom up. In the Ross Lab, we focus on two different biological systems to
\ninvestigate how energy is used for self-organization and self-healing. The first system uses DNA-
\norigami chassis to create designer active particles driven by urease enzymes. We find that the
\nenzymes\u2014both free in solution and attached to DNA-origami\u2014drive faster-than-expected
\ndiffusion, providing a basis for nanoscale active matter processes. The second system is an active
\ncytoskeleton\u2013kinesin motor system that organizes into steady-state patterns. We use laser
\nablation to locally destroy the network. This allows us to examine the network’s ability to
\nremember or forget its initial self-organized pattern<\/p>\n
\nand microtubule-based enzymes using high-resolution single molecule imaging techniques. She won
\nthe Cottrell Scholars Award from Research Corporation, the Margaret Oakley-Dayhoff Award
\nfrom the Biophysical Society, an INSPIRE Award from National Science Foundation, and is a
\nFellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of
\nScience. She has a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California Santa Barbara, and did
\npostdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. In 2020, she became
\ndepartment chair of Physics at Syracuse University. Ross is an innovative educator as well as
\nscientist, having created a novel interdisciplinary optics course where students build their own
\nmicroscopes. This course has been adapted and taught at several international short courses on
\nmicroscopy including Analytical and Quantitative Microscopy (AQLM) at the Marine Biology
\nLaboratory and the Bangalore Microscopy Course at the National Centre for Biological Science in
\nBangalore, India. Ross is also an advocate for women and under-represented groups in Physics,
\nand her lab is a space where anyone can come to learn problem solving concepts, fundamental
\nlab skills, and professional development abilities that can serve them throughout their lifetime.<\/p>\n