John Nagle-Dept of Physics - Carnegie Mellon University

John Nagle

Professor, Physics

Office: Wean Hall 6420
Phone: 412-268-2764
Fax: 412-681-0648

Education

Ph.D., Yale University

Research

Research is in the area of biological physics, with an interface with soft condensed matter physics. The particular systems under study are lipid bilayers, which form the structural basis of biomembranes. My studies focus on x-ray scattering, as well as theoretical modeling, statistical mechanical calculations and simulations, neutron scattering, and measurements of specific heat and volume as a function of temperature. The first goal is to obtain reliable data for basic structural properties. The second goal is to elucidate the interactions between bilayers. For biologically relevant fluid phase lipid bilayers, both goals involve measuring nanoscale fluctuations, which we do using  synchrotron x-rays. A longer-range goal is to understand how the molecular interactions bring about the structure and the fluctuations.

Selected Publications