Princeton professor who melds physics with biology will present 'Darwin Meets Nano' at K-State April 23

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Source: Nidhi Mungali, 785-532-2846, nidhim@phys.ksu.edu
http://www.physics.princeton.edu/~austin/
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Monday, April 9, 2007

PRINCETON PROFESSOR WHO MELDS PHYSICS WITH BIOLOGY WILL PRESENT 'DARWIN MEETS NANO' AT K-STATE APRIL 23

MANHATTAN -- A Princeton University physics professor who is using nanotechnology to better understand the physics behind DNA interactions and other biological processes will speak at Kansas State University.

Robert H. Austin will present "Darwin Meets Nano" at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 23, in 102 Cardwell Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. It is supported by an endowment from James R. Neff in honor of his parents, Everett and Florine Neff. Additional funding is provided by the K-State department of physics and the K-State Center for the Understanding of Origins.

Austin's research projects are using physics techniques to understand fundamental aspects of biological molecules and systems. This includes the use of microarrays and nanotechnology to further the physical understanding of biological processes like the dynamics of DNA and DNA-protein interactions. Austin's research also is developing techniques to quickly resolve DNA of different lengths and cells of different size in microchannels.

Austin has been with Princeton University's department of physics since 1979. He received a bachelor's degree in physics from Hope College in Holland, Mich., and a doctorate in physics from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. He did postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry from 1976-79.

He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences USA. He has been president of the Division of Biological Physics of the American Physical Society and is the present chair of the U.S. Liaison Committee of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. The editor of the Virtual Journal of Biological Physics, Austin has been the biological physics editor for Physical Review Letters and serves on numerous review panels for the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and National Institute of Standards and Technology. He also won the 2005 Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society.