Jan Kmetko works in the field of biological physics. His research program focuses on addressing issues hindering efforts in structure determination of biological molecules by x-rays, and there are two major bottlenecks. One, some biological molecules are hard or impossible to crystallize, and two, when the crystals are exposed to the intense synchrotron x-ray beam, they often suffer severe radiation damage. Eliminating these two trouble spots would allow the structure of macromolecules to be determined as soon as they are discovered. The experiments aim to address both issues: one, to understand fundamental aspects of crystallizing biological molecules, and two, to learn the physical and chemical mechanisms of radiation damage during x-ray exposure.

Areas of Expertise

Biological Physics

Education

Ph.D. -- Northwestern University, 2002
Postdoc -- Cornell University, 2005

Courses Taught

Physics 110: First-Year Seminar in Physics: Biological Physics
Physics 135: General Physics II
Physics 210: Intermediate Seminar in Physics: Biological Physics
Physics 240: Fields and Spacetime
PHYS 360, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics