My research lies at the intersection of surface and colloid science, polymer materials engineering, and biointerface science, with four central areas of focus: 1. Fabrication, manipulation and characterization of stimulus-responsive biomolecular and bio-inspired polymeric nanostructures on surfaces; 2. Nanotechnology of soft-wet materials and hybrid biological/non-biological microdevices; 3. Receptor-ligand interactions relevant to the diagnostics of infectious diseases; 4. Friction of soft-wet materials, specifically the role of glycoproteins on friction in diarthroidal joints. These four broad lines of inquiry deal with fundamental behaviors of soft-wet materials on surfaces and interfaces. The design and fabrication of these interfaces using "smart" polymeric and biomolecular nanostructures, and the characterization of the resulting structures, are critically important for the development of biomolecular sensors and devices and for bioinspired materials. Key approaches and tools I use in my research are: bottom-up organization on the molecular scale, through self-assembly, in-situ polymerization, and manipulation of intermolecular interactions; topdown fabrication, through scanning probe nanolithography; stimulus-responsive polymers; molecular recognition; and new approaches to sensing and manipulation. This research supports Duke's Pratt School of Engineering strategic initiative to expand research in soft-wet Materials Science.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	3385 CIEMAS
Office Phone:	(919) 660-5360, (919) 660-5310
Email Address:
Web Page:

Education:

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1999

PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2000

M.S., Oregon State University, 1992

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

Nano-mechanical and nano-tribological characterization (elasticity, friction, adhesion) of materials including organic thin films; self-assembled monolayers, polymeric gels, and cellulosics; Fabrication of polymeric nanostructures by scanning probe lithography; Colloidal probe and atomic force microscopy; Single molecule force spectroscopy applied to ligand-receptor binding; Biomolecular nano- and micro sensors

Specialties:

Nanomaterial manufacturing and characterization
Polymer and Protein Engineering
Materials
Nanoscience
Sensing and sensor systems
Manufacturing

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

Fellow, American Vacuum Society (AVS)
Dean of the Graduate School Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education, Duke University
Chair, 5th Gordon Research Conference in Biointerface Science
Marion and Capers McDonald Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research, Duke University, Pratt School of Engineering
ICCES Young Investigator Award, International Center for Computational Engineering Sciences, 2008
Bronze Award for Scientific Achievement, 26th Army Science Conference, U.S. Army Research, 2008
Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Nanomedicine, 2005
Early CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 2003
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program, National Science Foundation
Faculty Enhancement Award, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 2001

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Young, MN; Sindoni, MJ; Lewis, AH; Zauscher, S; Grandl, J, The energetics of rapid cellular mechanotransduction., Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 120 no. 8 (February, 2023), pp. e2215747120 [doi]  [abs].
2. Simon, M; Prause, A; Zauscher, S; Gradzielski, M, Self-Assembled Single-Stranded DNA Nano-Networks in Solution and at Surfaces., Biomacromolecules, vol. 23 no. 3 (March, 2022), pp. 1242-1250 [doi]  [abs].
3. Gilpin, A; Zeng, Y; Hoque, J; Ryu, JH; Yang, Y; Zauscher, S; Eward, W; Varghese, S, Self-Healing of Hyaluronic Acid to Improve In Vivo Retention and Function., Adv Healthc Mater, vol. 10 no. 23 (December, 2021), pp. e2100777 [doi]  [abs].
4. Yang, Y; Lu, Q; Huang, C-M; Qian, H; Zhang, Y; Deshpande, S; Arya, G; Ke, Y; Zauscher, S, Programmable Site-Specific Functionalization of DNA Origami with Polynucleotide Brushes., Angewandte Chemie International Edition, vol. 60 no. 43 (October, 2021), pp. 23241-23247, WILEY [doi]  [abs].
5. Navarro, LA; Ryan, JJ; Dzuricky, M; Gradzielski, M; Chilkoti, A; Zauscher, S, Microphase Separation of Resilin-like and Elastin-like Diblock Copolypeptides in Concentrated Solutions., Biomacromolecules, vol. 22 no. 9 (September, 2021), pp. 3827-3838 [doi]  [abs].

Current Ph.D. Students  

• Yee Lam  
• Debby Chang  
• Woo-Kyung Lee  
• Alexei Valiaev  
• Andres Garcia  
• Jianming Zhang  
• Jeff Coles  

Postdocs Mentored

• Nehal Abu-Lail (Spring 2004- Summer 2006)  
• Tao Chen (Summer 2007)  
• Robert Ducker (Spring 2007)  
• Marian Kaholek (Spring 2003 - Spring 2006)  
• Sang-Jung Ahn (Fall 2001 - Spring 2004)  
• Nelson Nunalee (Fall 2006 - Summer 2007)