Research

Research in the Doniach group is conducted along a variety of theoretical and experimental directions. Our research can be loosely grouped into three main areas:

• Theoretical investigation of the structure and dynamics of proteins and nucleic acids. Our present focus is on the phenomenon of amyloid formation and the role of the counterion atmosphere in nucleic acid dynamics. Our studies draw heavily on numerical methods, in particular Molecular Dynamics (MD) and reaction path annealing, a method that is developed in the group.
  
  Our research utilizes a number of computational resources including the Bio-X Cluster at Stanford, and the computers at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)


• Use of synchrotron radiation to study biological and condensed matter systems. In particular, we employ Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) as a probe of biological macromolecules in solution.
  
  SAXS research is conducted by our group at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the Argonne National Laboratory, located outside of Chicago and at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL), located here in sunny Palo Alto.


• Condensed matter theory: Theory of correlated electron systems, high-temperature superconductivity. Our current focus is on strong correlation effects in graphite, such as superconductivity and the possibility of a Bose metal at low temperatures.