ISKI RESEARCH GROUP

Combining aspects from both her graduate work at Tufts and her postdoctoral work at Argonne, Erin Iski's research program at TU IS centered on the use of ambient, liquid Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) to study the self-assembly of amino acids on metal surfaces. This research field pertains to the origin of homochirality in biology, the preference for specific secondary structures of proteins, and the characterization of non-covalent supramolecular interactions. The use of ambient STM utilizes both the incredible molecular resolution of STM and the ability to apply the findings to real-world applications, since the data is obtained at ambient pressures and temperatures.  Iski's aim is to develop strong interdisciplinary collaborations in a variety of fields such as nanoscience, engineering, and biochemistry, and to significantly engage with the TU Nanotechnology Institute. Students in her research group will be trained in highly valuable scientific techniques, be exposed to groundbreaking science, and obtain results publishable in notable scientific journals. Her long term goals are twofold: i) to examine and characterize the self-assembly of amino acids in ambient, aqueous environments; and ii) to extend that knowledge to larger assemblies of amino acids and/or protein structures.