Lois Pollack received her Ph.D. in physics from MIT and came to Cornell in 1989 as a postdoctoral associate in the Microkelvin Laboratory. In 1997, she changed the focus of her research program to biophysics. She joined the Cornell faculty in Applied and Engineering Physics in 2000. The goal of her research is to determine the dynamic structures of RNA, DNA and proteins, alone and in complex, on all relevant time and length scales. Her research exploits and couples state-of-the-art experimental tools, including x-ray free electron laser sources, micro/nano fabricated mixers and single molecule microscopy. She served as AEP’s Director of Undergraduate Studies from 2005 to 2010 and Department Director from 2014-2020. She received the Swanson Excellence in Teaching Award in 2003 and the Chau Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012.
Pollack's research program has two distinct themes. The first theme is instrumentation: the development of experimental tools that enable novel, time-resolved studies of proteins, DNA or RNA. By coupling microfluidics with light (either x-rays or lasers), our group has developed and applied tools that report dynamic shape changes as these large molecules assume ('fold' to) their biologically active states.
The second theme is a tight research focus on electrostatic interactions in RNA and DNA. The large negative charge carried by these nucleic acids significantly impacts their structure and function. This topic is timely, as recognition of RNA's central role in the cell continues to increase at an astonishing rate.
