Hyejin Yoo
Postdoctoral Fellow
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Group Member Since 2020
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Postdoctoral Associate, Duke University, 2013-2015
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Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, Yonsei University, 2013
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B.S. in Chemistry, Yonsei University, 2007
Research Interests
Probing Bimolecular Dynamics by FReI
My research involves understanding how biomolecules adapt to their rapidly changing environments. In specific, I am interested in probing light-matter interactions while biomolecules changes their conformation or binding affinity with regards to environmental perturbation (e.g. pH, temperature and volume). This study will be accomplished by a valuable microscopic tool, which is FReI (Fast Relaxation Imaging). FReI allows cells to be imaged for seconds to minutes with a rapid temperature increasing (T-jump), so that fast thermodynamics and kinetics of biomolecules, such as folding-unfolding, binding-unbinding and assembling-disassembling behaviors, can be unveiled both in living cells and in vitro.
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More About Me
My areas of expertise are building microscope systems (epi-fluorescence, TIRF and confocal) and probing various behaviors such as molecular interactions and conformational changes in small molecules and biomolecules. Working in a dark lab to trace fluorescence light from fluorescent dye is the most enjoyable moment of my research life. As a physical chemist, I will not only build a fast FReI microscopic system that can provide microsecond temporal resolution to observe a fast kinetics of biomolecules occurring in microsecond time scale, but also try to expand my knowledge of biochemistry and biophysics in the Davis lab.
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Selected Publications
Y. Bai, J.-H. Olivier, H. Yoo and M. J. Therien “Molecular Road Map to Tuning Ground State Absorption and Excited State Dynamics of Long-Wavelength Absorbers”
J. Am. Chem. Soc, 2017, 139, 16946–16958 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b09982
H. Yoo, S. Furumaki, M. R. Wasielewski, M. Vacha, and D. Kim “Excitonic Coupling in Linear and Trefoil Trimer Perylenediimide Molecules Probed by Single-Molecule Spectroscopy”
J. Phys. Chem. B 2012, 116, 12878–12886. DOI: 10.1021/jp307394x
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