Hyejin Yoo
Postdoctoral Fellow
Group Member Since 2020
Postdoctoral Associate, Duke University, 2013-2015
Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, Yonsei University, 2013
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.
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.
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