Franziska Bleichert
Miller Fellow, 2010 - 2013
MCB
Host: James Berger
Ph.D. Institution: Yale University
E-mail: fbleichert[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 374D Stanley Hall # 3220

Before each cell division, the genetic content of cells is duplicated by DNA replication. Dr. Bleichert is interested in understanding the initial steps of this process which involve the binding of numerous proteins to DNA to form replication initiation complexes. She will use a combination of X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy to study the architecture and structure of replication initiation complexes, seeking to understand how the structures of these macromolecules determine their functions.

Thomas Bodin
Miller Fellow, Spring 2012 - 2015
Earth & Planetary Science
Host: Barbara Romanowicz
Ph.D. Institution: The Australian National University
E-mail: thomas.bodin[at]berkeley.edu
Address: Earth & Planetary Science
307 McCone Hall #4767

Similarly to medical imaging, where for example acoustic waves are used to image the human body, Dr. Bodin is interested in imaging the Earth’s interior using seismic waves generated by earthquakes, and traveling through different structures of the planet. This is called seismic tomography and has been an active area of research in seismology for the last 30 years. He is particularly interested in tackling the problem probabilistically, where one fully accounts for uncertainties both in the observed seismic waves and on the final image of the Earth.

Gregory Bowman
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
MCB
Host: Susan Marqusee
Ph.D. Institution: Stanford University
E-mail: gbowman[at]berkeley.edu
Address: Marqusee Lab, 592 Stanley Hall # 3220

The role that a protein’s dynamics play in its function is an unsolved mystery that is crucial to understanding many biochemical processes. For example, how do membrane proteins transmit extracellular signals into a cell? How do proteins fold into functional shapes? And how can a few mutations allow proteins involved in drug-resistance to degrade novel antibiotics? These questions are representative of the three topics Dr. Bowman would like to address as a Miller Fellow: protein allostery, folding, and evolution. By better understanding these fundamental questions, he hopes to greatly improve our ability to design small molecules and protein therapeutics.

Justin Brown
Miller Fellow, Fall 2011 - 2014
Physics
Host: Holger Mueller
Ph.D. Institution: Princeton University
E-mail: jmbrown[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 366 LeConte Hall, Mueller Lab # 7300

General Relativity has been enormously successful at describing space and time on astronomical distance scales, but remains difficult to observe in the laboratory. Dr. Brown is interested in studying gravitational effects that deviate from simple Newtonian mechanics, Post-Newtonian effects, that are difficult to observe even within our solar system. The interference of cold atomic clouds in an atom interferometer provides a powerful tool for such precision tests of gravity on the laboratory scale.

Itay Budin
Miller Fellow, Fall 2012 - 2015
CBE/Bioengineering
Host: Jay Keasling
Ph.D. Institution: Harvard University
E-mail: budin[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 201 Gilman Hall #1462

Lipid membranes are a ubiquitous organizing structure in biology and have evolved as physical environments for a host of fundamental molecular processes. Dr. Budin is broadly interested in understanding the function and evolution of cell membrane components. Specifically, he is exploring two sets of closely connected questions: 1) How does membrane lipid composition affect cellular function? What is the basis for diversity in membrane composition among organisms, tissues, and organelles? 2) How do the membrane’s material properties, as determined by lipid composition, regulate cell function? What functions dictate the optimal physical state of cell membranes, which varies considerably in biology? Dr. Budin uses a combination of biophysical approaches and synthetic biology to address these questions.

Qian Chen
Miller Fellow, 2012 - 2015
Chemistry
Host: Paul Alivisatos
Ph.D. Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
E-mail: qchen[at]berkeley.edu
Address: Chemistry
419 Latimer Hall #1460

Dr. Chen is tremendously interested in transmuting the inanimate matter into animate. This becomes challenging yet more intriguing when the matter is tiny, down to the nanometer size. The aim is to devise machines of such size, capable of accomplishing physical tasks at a high temporal (i.e. only when a trigger is received) and also a high spatial resolution (i.e. only where the machine resides). These tiny machines whose operations, programmed into them by design, would work in a bottom-up manner: one action in the targeted elementary unit will influence, and even transform the upper-level states.

Xie Chen
Miller Fellow, Fall 2012 - 2015
Physics
Host: Joel E. Moore
Ph.D. Institution: M.I.T.
E-mail: xiechen[at]berkeley.edu
Address: Physics
366 LeConte Hall #7300

Just like the collective vibration of water molecules gives rise to water waves, quantum particles, when in large number and moving together, can exhibit surprising emergent behaviors. One amazing example is the Quantum Hall effect in two dimensional electron systems where currents can flow with quantized conductance accurate to 10^(-8) order. However, our understanding of such quantum many-body phenomena is limited due to our inability to characterize the essential quantum correlation, called `entanglement’, that exists among the particles. Dr. Chen’s research interest is in combining ideas from quantum information theory, where entanglement is extensively studied, into condensed matter physics to establish a theory for many-body entanglement. Such a theory would lead to the discovery of new strongly correlated quantum phases in condensed matter systems, a systematic understanding of them and the identification of experimental systems where they can be realized.

Francesco D'Eramo
Miller Fellow, Fall 2012 - 2015
Physics
Host: Yasunori Nomura
Ph.D. Institution: M.I.T.
E-mail: fraderamo[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 366 LeConte Hall #7300

The Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator located at CERN, is investigating the fundamental laws of nature by colliding protons as well as lead nuclei at the highest energies ever achieved. Proton-proton collisions are providing the first thorough exploration of the Fermi energy scale, where new physics signals are expected. Lead-Lead collisions are studying the quark-gluon plasma properties, a phase of matter which filled the early universe during its first few microsecond. In his research, Dr. D’Eramo works both on predicting signals of new physics at the Fermi scale, and developing new theoretical tools to study the matter produced in heavy-ion collisions.

Adam Day
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
Mathematics
Host: Ted Slaman
Ph.D. Institution: Victoria University of Wellington
E-mail: adam.day[at]math.berkeley.edu
Address: 719 Evans Hall # 3840

Dr. Day’s research is motivated by a desire to understand the mathematical properties of a random outcome. These properties can be investigated by combining the theory of computable functions with probability theory. He is particularly interested in considering the case when the underlying probability distribution cannot be computed.

Claude-André Faucher-Giguère
Miller Fellow, 2010 - 2013
Astronomy
Host: Chung-Pei Ma
Ph.D. Institution: Harvard University
E-mail: cgiguere[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 641B Campbell Hall # 3411

Dr. Faucher-Giguère has broad interests in theoretical astrophysics and cosmology, with particular emphasis on cosmic structure formation. A problem of central importance is to understand how the low-density intergalactic medium evolves from Big Bang initial conditions into the galaxies that we observe today. To address this, he uses a combination of analytical modeling and numerical simulations, and develops ways to relate the theoretical models to observations that can test and inform them.

Gregory Finnigan
Miller Fellow, Fall 2012 - 2015
MCB
Host: Jeremy Thorner
Ph.D. Institution: University of Oregon
E-mail: gfinnigan[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 142 LSA #3200

How cells are able to assume an elegant spectrum of shapes and forms is an ongoing question in molecular biology. An attractive candidate that allows for great flexibility at the nanoscale level is the septin family of proteins. Septin subunits combine into small core complexes that can also be assembled into long filaments. A remarkable diversity of higher-order geometries can be generated by septins including bundles, sheets, gauzes, hour-glass shapes, and rings. Dr. Finnigan will investigate the molecular mechanisms responsible for the assembly and regulation of septin complex geometries within budding yeast. He will utilize a combination of genetic, molecular, and biochemical approaches in these studies of cytoskeletal structure and intracellular signaling cascades.

Timofey Frolov
Miller Fellow, Spring 2012 - 2015
Materials Science & Engineering
Host: Mark Asta
Ph.D. Institution: George Mason University
E-mail: timfrol[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 210 Hearst Mining Building #5792

Dr. Frolov’s research focuses on thermodynamics of interfaces and phase equilibrium. His thesis work was devoted to the development of thermodynamic theory of grain and phase boundaries that includes effects of nonhydrostatic stresses, temperature and chemical composition. The developed theory was applied to study interface properties in metallic systems using atomistic simulations. Additional areas of research include: diffusion, premelting, modeling of homogeneus and heterogeneous nucleation, and transitions at interfaces.

Matthew Good
Miller Fellow, 2010 - 2013
MCB
Host: Rebecca Heald
Ph.D. Institution: UCSF
E-mail: matt.good[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 311 LSA # 3200

Dr. Good is generally interested in the principles that govern the spatiotemporal regulation of protein networks inside of living cells. As a Miller Fellow Dr. Good, will tackle an intriguing question fundamental to cell growth and division: how are intracellular structures modified to fit within a changing cell volume?

August Johansson
Miller Fellow, 2010 - 2013
Mathematics
Host: James Sethian
Ph.D. Institution: Umea University, Sweden
E-mail: august[at]math.berkeley.edu
Address: 725 Evans Hall # 3840

Partial differential equations are used for describing a vast number of various physical phenomena such as heat and fluid flow, elasticity, electromagnetism and acoustics to name a few. Dr. Johansson's research is on developing numerical methods for solving such equations, primarily using finite element methods. He is particularly interested in phenomena that are described by several partial differential equations coupled to each other that may involve different temporal and spatial scales. He is also interested in immersed methods for moving interfaces.

Eric King
Miller Fellow, 2010 - 2013
EPS
Host: Bruce Buffet
Ph.D. Institution: UCLA
E-mail: eric.king[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 383 McCone Hall # 4767

The magnetic fields of planets and stars (such as Earth and the Sun) are generated by turbulent motions occurring in the vast seas of electrically conducting fluids within them. Dr. King's research draws on theoretical, experimental, and computational analogs of geophysical and astrophysical flows to improve our fundamental understanding of this and other natural phenomena.

Mark Laidre
Miller Fellow, 2010 - 2013
Integrative Biology/Anthropology
Hosts: Roy Caldwell, Tery Deacon
Ph.D. Institution: Princeton University
E-mail: mlaidre[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 3060 VLSB # 3140

Mark is broadly interested in the intersection of evolution, behavior, and ecology. His research combines field and laboratory experiments with theoretical modeling and computer simulations to understand the evolutionary and ecological forces that shape animal behavior, especially communication, sociality, and foraging in taxa ranging from invertebrates to humans.

Chen Li
Miller Fellow, 2012 - 2015
Integrative Biology/ EECS
Hosts: Robert J. Full, Ronald S. Fearing
Ph.D. Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
E-mail: chen.li[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 5130 VLSB #3140

Similar to the emergence of personal computers thirty years ago, robots are on the verge of becoming a major part of everyday life. Most existing robots can already operate effectively from immobile stations (e.g., car welding robots) or on controlled, idealized surfaces (e.g., vacuuming robots); however, locomotor performance is still generally poor in complicated, dynamic terrain (e.g., stairs). By contrast, animals nimbly move about in nature, and provide a source of inspiration for biomechanics and neurosensory control of legged locomotion, particularly in complex environments. Chen's research aims to discover how animals move in complex terrain, and apply these design principles to create bio-inspired robots with locomotor and navigation capabilities beginning to approach those of biological organisms.

Milo Lin
Miller Fellow, Fall 2012 - 2015
Chemistry
Host: David Chandler
Ph.D. Institution: California Institute of Technology
E-mail: milolin[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 419 Latimer Hall #1460

Dr. Lin is interested in how proteins perform their functions. His focus is on allostery, whereby binding of a ligand to its (activator) site on a protein leads to enhanced or suppressed activity of a remote (effector) site on the protein. In this sense, allosteric proteins are logic gates within the cell. Using statistical mechanical and computational methods, his goal is to understand allostery at the level of prediction.

Kirk Lohmueller
Miller Fellow, 2010 - 2013
Integrative Biology
Host: Rasmus Nielsen
Ph.D. Institution: Cornell University
E-mail: k.lohmueller[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 3060 VLSB # 3140

Dr. Lohmueller studies patterns of genetic variation in human populations. He is developing and implementing computational techniques to analyze large-scale genomic datasets with the goal of understanding how population history and natural selection have shaped genetic diversity. His work is important for understanding human history, medical genetics, and forensic science.

Eric Neuscamman
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
Chemistry
Host: Martin Head-Gordon
Ph.D. Institution: Cornell University
E-mail: eneuscamman[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 419 Latimer Hall, c/o Martin Head-Gordon Group # 1460

Dr Neuscamman's research focuses on the theoretical treatment and computer modeling of strong electron interactions in molecular and solid state environments. In a typical molecule or solid at equilibrium, the formation of bonding and anti-bonding orbitals usually prevents strong interactions between electrons, making the electronic structure relatively easy to describe. Unfortunately, many important systems such as catalytic protein cores, high temperature superconductors, and chemical reaction coordinates lack this simplifying structure and contain large numbers of strongly interacting electrons. This research seeks to create accurate models of these systems by combining the strengths of advanced theoretical models and massively parallel computation.

Rachel Pepper
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
IB and CEE
Hosts: Mimi Koehl, Mark Stacey
Ph.D. Institution: Harvard
E-mail: rachel.pepper[at]berkeley.edu
Address: IB: 3060 VLSB, #3140, CEE: 760 Davis Hall, #1710
3140

Dr. Pepper is interested in problems at the intersection of fluid mechanics and biology and in exploring research that lends insight both to underlying physical mechanisms and to biological functions, strategies, and evolution. In particular, she studies the fluid flows that microscopic organisms create and inhabit using experiments, theory, and simulations.

Adam Retchless
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
ESPM
Host: Rodrigo Almeida
Ph.D. Institution: University of Pittsburgh
E-mail: adam[at]retchless.us
Address: 137 Mulford Hall, c/o Rodrigo Almeida # 3114

Many organisms can grow in a diverse range of environmental conditions, even when some of those conditions would kill closely related organisms. Dr. Retchless investigates the genetic basis of this phenomenon in the bacterial plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa, which not only grows within multiple host species (causing disease in several crops), but also colonizes the foreguts of insects so that it can be transmitted to uninfected plants. To understand the genetic basis of adaptation to multiple environments, Dr. Retchless is comparing strains of X. fastidiosa that grow in different plants and modeling evolutionary processes that could cause bacteria to gain or lose the ability to grow on a host species of plant.

Joshua Ruderman
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
Physics
Host: Yasunori Nomura
Ph.D. Institution: Princeton
E-mail: jtruderman[at]lbl.gov
Address: 366 LeConte Hall, c/o Yasunori Nomura # 7300

The Large Hadron Collider, that is now running at CERN, may soon discover new dynamics and uncover new symmetries of our Universe. Dr. Ruderman is interested in developing new theories of particle physics that can be tested at the Large Hadron Collider. More generally, he would like to understand how experiments can teach us about solutions to long-standing problems of particle physics, such as the origin of mass and the particle nature of dark matter.

Steven Sam
Miller Fellow, Fall 2012 - 2015
Mathematics
Host: David Eisenbud
Ph.D. Institution: M.I.T.
E-mail: svs[at]math.berkeley.edu
Address: 970 Evans Hall #3840

Dr. Sam is interested in the interactions between algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and invariant theory. Algebraic geometry and commutative algebra are the study of the geometry and algebra of systems of polynomial equations and invariant theory is the study of symmetries of such systems. In particular, Dr. Sam studies questions such as how to calculate free resolutions, how to describe moduli spaces, and finding connections with other subjects. Such topics have been considered for a long time now, so he is especially interested in integrating modern techniques such as representation theory, sheaf cohomology, and computer algebra.

Mikhail Shapiro
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
Bioengineering & Molecular and Cell Biology
Hosts: David Schaffer, Ehud Isacoff
Ph.D. Institution: MIT
E-mail: mikhails[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 278 Stanley Hall # 3220

The brain is a complex system comprising billions of interconnected, specialized cells whose collective function gives rise to human consciousness, while malfunction leads to neurological and psychiatric disease. Understanding how this system works requires the ability to precisely sense and manipulate its activity. Dr. Shapiro is developing new technologies that will provide non-invasive access to the brain at a molecular level, and plans to apply such technologies to basic neuroscience and treatment of disease. His key methods include genetic and protein engineering, magnetic resonance and ultrasound imaging and infrared radiation.

Yogesh Surendranath
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
Chemistry
Host: Paul Alivisatos
Ph.D. Institution: MIT
E-mail: yogeshs[at]berkeley.edu
Address: Alivsatos Group # 1460

The development of a new generation of technologies for the capture and conversion of sunlight and its storage in the form of chemical fuels relies on the ability to control the transfer of charge at nanostructured interfaces. Dr. Surendranath’s work will focus on the synthesis of novel nano-sized catalyst-functionalized semiconductor heterostructures to uncover the key principles governing unidirectional charge flow at interfaces. In particular, the work will target multi-component architectures capable of generating H2 and O2 from sunlight.

Melissa Wilson Sayres
Miller Fellow, 2011 - 2014
Statistics and Integrative Biology
Host: Rasmus Nielsen
Ph.D. Institution: Penn State University
E-mail: mwilsonsayres[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 367 Evans Hall, c/o Rasumus Nielsen # 3140

Dr. Wilson Sayres is actively working to understand the evolution of sex chromosomes (X and Y in mammals), and also interested in using the unique properties of these chromosomes (e.g., that they spend different amounts of time in the male and female germlines, and are subject to different selective pressures) to address how mutations accumulate. To address the first area of interest, she is cataloging and interpreting variation among multi-copy gene families on the Y chromosomes from populations around the world. She is also comparing diversity on the sex chromosomes and non-sex chromosomes across hundreds of individuals to determine how population demography, selection, and sex-specific mutation processes combine to contribute to the accumulation of mutations in the human genome.

Sa Kan Yoo
Miller Fellow, Fall 2012 - 2015
MCB
Host: Iswar Hariharan
Ph.D. Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
E-mail: syoo4[at]berkeley.edu
Address: 142 LSA #3200

A fundamental unresolved question in biology is how organ size is determined. In a similar vein, how organs regenerate upon tissue damage is also a fascinating problem. Dr. Yoo will address these central questions, using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster and the tropical fish, Danio rerio. He hopes his research will provide novel insights into the regulation of organ size and therapeutic strategies in regenerative medicine.