Graduate Students

David Cai

Email:      david.cai@emory.edu
Advisor:  Connie Roth

Research Interests:  "I'm interested in experimental soft matter physics. I'm currently studying polymer interfaces by using quartz crystal microbalance to measure viscoelastic properties."  

Andres Chappa

Email:      andres.chappa@emory.edu
Advisor: 

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Chung Hao Chen

Email:      chung.hao.chen@emory.edu
Advisor:  justin.c.burton@emory.edu

Research Interests:  "I work in experimental soft and active matter physics."

Matthew Day

Email:      matthew.day@emory.edu
Advisor:  Tankut Can

Research Interests:  "My work approaches the study of memory and computation in brains and machines through the lens of physics. In practice, this means not only borrowing mathematical tools and theoretical frameworks from physics, but also importing its way of thinking—building minimal, interpretable models that capture the essential dynamics of a system. By applying these models to questions in artificial intelligence and memory, I aim to uncover the fundamental principles that govern how complex networks—biological or artificial—store information, adapt, and learn."

Pedro de Castro

Email:      pedro.de.castro@emory.edu
Advisor:  Wladimir Benalcazar

 Research Interests:  "My area of research is condensed matter theory.  I am particularly interesteds in how the presence of symmetries, interactions and notrivial topology produces emergent collective behavior in quantum many-body system." 

Tai Do

Email:     tai.do@emory.edu
Advisor:  

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Cordell Donofrio

Email:      cjdonof@emory.edu
Advisor:  Eric Weeks

Research Interests: "Main focus of research has been in simulations of glassy systems and crowd dynamics. Additional work has been conducted through the use of laser tweezers to manipulate colloidal glass formers."

Katrianna Sarkar Duncan

Email:       katrianna.sarkar@emory.edu
Advisor:   Daniel Sussman

Research Interests: "Computational soft mattter physics, molecular dynamics simulation development and fluid dynamics." 

Shaady Fouad

Email:      shady.fouad@emory.edu
Advisor:   Kurt Warncke

Research Interests:  “I am studying protein dynamics with a current focus on intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). My research is particularly centered on disease-modifying proteins such as α-synuclein (α-syn), which plays multiple roles in the nervous system, with its misfolding implicated as a primary cause of Parkinson's disease. Utilizing Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, I investigate the kinetic properties of α-syn, aiming to understand how thermodynamic factors such as entropy and enthalpy contribute to its stability and misfolding.”

Aishwarya Ganesh

Email:       aishwarya.ganesh@emory.edu
Advisor:   Minsu Kim

Research Interests:  "I'm interested in evolution in expanding populations is observed for a myriad of organisms ranging from human to plants to microbes. Proteus mirabilis, a bacteria that exhibits cooperation-driven motility, is a model organisms for researching evolution in the context of cooperating expanding populations. While the connection between cooperativity and spatial evolution is not yet fully understood, Proteus mirabilis provides us an opportunity to study the driving mechanisms because of its unique ability to move collectively."  

Haylen Gerhard

Email:      haylen.gerhard@emory.edu
Advisor:   Wladimir Benalcazar

Research Interests:  “I'm interested in using symmetry and topology to study the behavior of condensed matter systems.” 

Zachariah Germain

Email:       zachariah.germain@emory.edu
Advisor:   Jennifer Rieser

Research Interests: “My interest lies in biophysics, especially related to animal behavior.”

Jiwoo Han

Email:       jiwoo.han@emory.edu
Advisor:  

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Jana Vadillo Godoy

Email:       jana.vadillo.godoy@emory.edu
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Sabid Hossain

Email:      sabid.hossain@emory.edu
Advisor:   Hayk Harutyunyan

Research Interests: "I am interested in experimental and theoretical Condensed Matter Physics."

Jingxian Huang

Email:       jingxian.huang@emory.edu
Advisor:  

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Venkatesh Jha

Email:       venkatesh.jha@emory.edu
Advisor:   minsu.kim@emory.edu

Research Interests:   "My research uses biophysics to understand how bacteria sense physical cues and convert them into collective behaviour. I study how individual cells alter their biophysical properties in response to the environment, and how these local responses scale up to produce striking, organized biological patterns. By combining mathematical modelling and experimental approaches, I aim to uncover the physical and regulatory principles that allow single cells to coordinate into multicellular-like communities."

Veronika Juylova

Email:       veronika.juylova@emory.edu
Advisor:  

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Alphin Joshy

Email:       alphin.joseph.maliyekkal.joshy@emory.edu
Advisor:   Connie Roth

Research Interests:   "I am interested in studying the mechanical properties of polymer films upon nano-confinement."

Erekle Kalichava

 Email:       erekle.kalichava@emory.edu
Advisor:    Daniel Weissman

Research Interests:  “I am interested in phylogenetics and population structure of the bacteria. my research is heavily computational and incorporates statistical genomics."

Cagdas Kilic

Email:      cagdas.kilic@emory.edu
Advisor:  Ilya Nemenman

Research Interests:  “I am working on the theoretical foundations of statistical inference, aiming to develop models of signal propagation and detection in high-dimensional settings. I am particularly interested in how dimensionality reduction techniques such as projection and sketching affect signal detectability. To this end, I utilize tools from random matrix theory to build unifying frameworks that describe and predict behaviors observed in modern machine learning systems, such as large language models.” 

Juhyeong (Kelly) Kim

Email:      juhyeong.kim@emory.edu
Advisor:  Connie Roth

Research Interests:  "My research is in experimental soft matter physics. I study polymer thin films and glass formation through solvent evaporation.” 

Chengling Li

Email:      chengling.li@emory.edu
Advisor:  Daniel Sussman

Research Interests:  “I’m interested in computational biophysics."

Wei-Chih Li

Email:      wei-chih.li@emory.edu
Advisor:  Justin Burton

Research Interests:  “My research focuses on micro-sized particles suspended in a plasma environment, also known as dusty plasma. This non-equilibrium system involves both particle-particle and particle-environment interactions, resulting in non-conservation of total energy. Through our 3D scanning system, we can explore kinetic energy and particle-particle interactions within the experiment. I aim to bridge the gap between interactions of a few particles and the statistical properties of thousands of particles by using coarse-graining techniques.” 

Tianhong Lu

Email:      tianhong.lu@emory.edu
Advisor:  Luiz Santos

Research Interests: "I am interested in condensed matter physics, such as the interacting many-body systems." 

Zhouhang (Jordan) Ma

 Email:      zhouhang.ma@emory.edu
Advisor:   Minsu Kim

Research Interests:  "Aerobiology"

Emily Manquerors

Email:    emily.manqueros@emory.edu 
Advisor:

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Lauren Massaro

Email:      lauren.massaro@emory.edu
Advisor:  Jiang-Xiazi Lin

Research Interests:  “I am interested in experimental condensed matter physics, specifically studying the emergent quantum phases in two-dimensional materials. My research focuses on the fabrication of Van der Waals devices and performing electrical transport measurements at low temperatures and strong magnetic fields.” 

Waad Paliwal

Email:      waad.paliwal@emory.edu
Advisor:  Eric Weeks

Research Interests:  "I am interested in everything soft matter. I am currently studying colloidal gels which are solids suspended in a fluid. The intertwined phases results in very cool properties that have many applications."

Aidan Powers

Email:      aidan.powers@emory.edu
Advisor: 

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Yunshi Qi

Email:      yunshi.qi@emory.edu
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Leon Palacio Rangel

Email:       jlpalac@emory.edu
Advisor:    Justin Burton

Research Interests:  "I am interested in experimental soft matter physics, focusing on fluids involving granular materials and liquids. My current research explores the bulk properties of glass particles, similar to sand, to better understand their interactions with liquids." 

 Drisha Sehgal

Email:       drisha.sehgal@emory.edu
Advisor:   Katherine Davis

Research Interests:  "Biophysics, Metalloenzymes, Single Molecule techniques."  

 Robert Sevik

Email:       robert.sevik@emory.edu
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Zhicheng Shu

Email:       zhicheng.shu@emory.edu
Advisor:   Justin Burton

Research Interests:  "I am interested in applying machine learning to study dusty plasma." 

Yuying Sun

Email:       yuying.sun@emory.edu
Advisor:   Ilya Nemenman

Research Interests:  “My research interests lie at the intersection of mathematical modeling, biophysics, and quantitative physiology. I study how nonlinear dynamics can explain biological regulation in health and disease.” 

Mateusz Szurek

 Email:      mateusz.szurek@emory.edu
Advisor:  Sergei Urazhdin

Research Interests:  "I am mostly focused on condensed matter research and finding new physical phenomena in small systems. I focus on the use of nano-scale methods to observe extremely small systems."

Yuankai Tang

Email:       yuankai.tang@emory.edu
Advisor:   Hayk Harutyunyan

Research Interests:  "My research interest is about the light-and-matter interactions, especially the nonlinear generation of light based on plasmonic structures."

Xinyu Tian

Email:       xinyu.tian@emory.edu
Advisor:   Hayk Harutyunyan

Research Interests:  “My research interest lies in the area of nanophotonics, especially the nonlinear properties and ultrafast dynamics of photonic systems.”

Ekramuddin Towsif

Email:       ekramuddin.towsif@emory.edu
Advisor:   Shashank Shekhar

Research Interests:  "I'm interested in exploring phase transitions and critical points in materials/matter. Currently, I am working on nonconventional superconductors and developing a new theory to provide some insight on developing standard temperature pressure superconducting materials."

Lexi Vargas

Email:      ajvarga@emory.edu
Advisor:  Justin Burton

Research Interests: "Climate change has significantly impacted various regions of our planet, with drastic changes observed at the poles where most of Earth's glaciers are located. I aim to build laboratory-scale glacial systems using an ice analog to experimentally investigate glaciological problems using my physics background." 

Liukun Antoine Wang

Email:      antoine.wang@emory.edu
Advisor: 

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Xinrui Wang

Email:      xinrui.wang@emory.edu
Advisor:  Stefan Boettcher

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Ishraquddin Wasif

Email:      ishraquddin.wasif@emory.edu
Advisor:  Katherine Davis

Research Interests:  "I study metalloenzyme mechanisms, specifically how first-shell ligands, active-site geometry, and the local environment tune spin state, covalency, and reaction pathways. I aim to integrate X-ray spectroscopies with tractable computational models to identify metal–ligand intermediates and link electronic fingerprints to function."

Yudong Wu

Email:      yudong.wu@emory.edu
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Yue Wu

Email:      yue.wu@emory.edu
Advisor:  Shashank Shekhar

Research Interests:   "Is in the actin self-assembly process—specifically, how actin contributes to cell motility and the key proteins that regulate this process. I also want to explore how we can harness these mechanisms to develop actin-based materials. 

Weishi Xing

Email:      weishi.xing@emory.edu
Advisor:  Eric Weeks

Research Interests:  “I'm interested in experimental soft matter physics, such as the flow of polydisperse emulsions.” 

Sarita Yadav

Email:      sarita.yadav@emory.edu
Advisor:  Connie Roth

Research Interests:  "I am interested in studying the dynamic glass transition temperature in polymers and how perturbations, such as those from interfaces, can affect it in thin polymer films." 

Xinyang Zhang

Email:      xinyang.zhang@emory.edu
Advisor: 

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Bangda (Aether) Zhou

Email:      aether.zhou@emory.edu
Advisor: 

Research Interests:  "I am studying quantum many-body physics with the goal of understanding how collective electron behavior emerges in strongly correlated systems. My research combines theoretical analysis and computational approaches, in particular using exact diagonalization to simulate cavity QED systems. I am also interested in developing entanglement witness as a tool for probing quantum correlations and diagnosing ergodicity-breaking phenomena."