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8-5-2026: Congratulations to Dr. Dima Bolmatov on his new appointment as Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics at the TTUHSC School of Medicine!
8-5-2026: From left to right: Dima Bolmatov (PI, Bolmatov Lab), Paul Dixon (graduate student), Owen Hess (Clark Scholar and Bolmatov Lab summer intern), and Owen's parents, Jessica and Chad Hess, following Owen's final presentation, "Voltage-Stimulated Electromechanical Coupling Enables Memcapacitive Behavior in Lipid Bilayers."
7-31-2026: Lunch with Paul Dixon, who recently joined our group as a graduate student, Miles Powell, a summer intern from Stony Brook University, and Owen Hess, a Clark Scholar and high school student from Los Angeles.
7-28-2026: We have been awarded neutron beamtime at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for our proposal entitled "Electric Field-Driven Structural Adaptation in POPC Lipid Bilayers Probed by Neutron Reflectometry" and synchrotron beamtime at National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for our proposal entitled "Field-Modulated Electromechanical Coupling in Lipid Membranes." We look forward to carrying out these experiments this fall.
7-15-2026: Dr. Dima Bolmatov and his collaborator, Dr. Shengxi Huang (Rice University), have been awarded a WelchX Pilot Grant (Grant No. X-D-0022-20260714) for their proposal, "AI-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Probing Electromechanical Memory and Adaptation in Biomembranes." Dr. Bolmatov serves as the Principal Investigator on this project. We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of The Welch Foundation and sincerely thank Dr. Adam Kuspa, Carla Atmar, Kristin Roden Atmar, Courtney Mattox, and Frances Gu for their assistance and support throughout the program.
7-3-2026: International Collaboration in Membrane Biophysics Research
From left to right: Yong Q. Cai (Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, USA), Alexei Bosak (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, France), Dima Bolmatov (Texas Tech University, USA), and Dmytro Soloviov (European Molecular Biology Laboratory – Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Germany) during an international beamtime campaign performing inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) measurements on electrically stimulated lipid stacks.
This collaborative effort combines advanced synchrotron techniques with membrane biophysics to probe collective excitations and electromechanical dynamics in biomimetic lipid systems, advancing our understanding of energy transport and signaling in complex biological membranes.
6-23-2026: From left to right, Miles Powell, Dima Bolmatov, and Owen Hess.
Miles Powell is a junior in the Department of Physics at Stony Brook University and joined Dima’s lab at Texas Tech University as a summer research intern. Owen Hess, a high school student from Los Angeles, is a participant in The Anson L. Clark Scholars Program, an intensive summer research program for highly qualified rising high school seniors, and has also joined Dima’s lab as a summer research intern.
During their seven-week internship, both Miles and Owen are conducting research in Dima’s lab, where they are gaining hands-on experience in all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and membrane patch-clamp electrophysiology. Their research focuses on understanding memory-like adaptive behavior in lipid membranes, with particular emphasis on electromechanical coupling and nonlinear electrochemical responses.
This training experience reflects the lab’s commitment to interdisciplinary mentorship at the intersection of experimental and computational science.
Welcome to Dima Bolmatov’s Lab!
6-11-2026: WelchX Retreat, The Welch Foundation — Houston, Texas, June 8–11, 2026
Participants of the 2026 WelchX Retreat gathered at The Post Oak Hotel in Houston, Texas, for four days of scientific exchange, team building, and proposal development. The retreat brought together early-career faculty from universities and research institutions across Texas, representing diverse disciplines in chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, and materials science. Through a unique collaborative format, participants formed new interdisciplinary partnerships, developed innovative research concepts, and prepared pilot grant proposals addressing emerging scientific challenges. The retreat fostered an environment of creativity, mentorship, and networking, creating new opportunities for long-term collaborations across institutions and fields.
6-03-2026: Dima and Zackary at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), Oak Ridge National Laboratory. During this visit, the team conducted neutron diffraction experiments at SNS and complementary spectroscopy measurements at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) to investigate the structure and dynamics of biological and biomimetic membrane systems. Zack will remain at CNMS through July 31 as a summer research intern, contributing to ongoing studies in biophysics, advanced materials characterization, and data analysis.
5-24-2026: Ashley recently visited the Mays Cancer Center in San Antonio, where she shadowed medical physics residents and faculty, toured clinical facilities, and gained firsthand exposure to radiation oncology and medical physics workflows. During her visit, she interacted extensively with current graduate students, residents, and program directors, learning about the clinical, research, and educational aspects of the field. The experience provided valuable insight into the day-to-day practice of medical physics and strengthened her understanding of the profession and its career pathways.
5-21-2026: Congratulations to Zack on receiving a prestigious summer internship at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This highly competitive program is typically awarded to graduate students and provides the opportunity to conduct research at one of the nation's premier scientific user facilities for two months. Remarkably, Zack was the only undergraduate student selected for this internship from applicants across the country, a testament to his exceptional talent, dedication, and potential as a young researcher.
5-05-2026: We were awarded beam time at both the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), USA, and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. At ORNL, from June 1–6, we will perform neutron diffraction measurements to investigate the structural organization and phase behavior of cholesterol-rich lipid membranes. At ESRF, from June 27 to July 7, we will conduct inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) experiments using a uniquely developed humidity-controlled sample chamber equipped with electrodes. These measurements will probe collective dynamics, heat-driven memory effects, and energy-buffering mechanisms in multilamellar lipid stacks that mimic the architecture of the myelin sheath.
4-21-2026: Dima was interviewed by Jacob Godon in a feature titled
“Texas Tech Researcher Explores the Memory Capabilities of Cell Membranes.”
"Cell membranes may store memories after electrical stimulation" featured by Phys.Org
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-cell-membranes-memories-electrical.html#google_vignette
4-13-2026: Dima will be giving a talk on April 27 titled ‘Electromechanical Coupling in Phospholipid Membranes, the Myelin Sheath, and Living Cells’ as a new affiliated faculty of the Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, TTUHSC School of Medicine
4-10-2026: Congratulations to Ashley on receiving the Roland Menzel Memorial Scholarship! She has also been elected President of the Society of Physics Students and Vice President of Women in Physics.
4-10-2026: Selected photos from the Physics Banquet celebrating the 100th anniversary! Congratulations to Ashley on receiving a prestigious undergraduate scholarship!
3-27-2026: Dima is pleased to share that he has been selected to participate in the 2026 Welch eXperimental Collaboration Retreat (WelchX), taking place June 8-11 at The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston in Houston, Texas.
3-26-2026: Dima is pleased to share that he has been selected to join the Center for Membrane Protein Research at TTUHSC as a member.
https://www.ttuhsc.edu/centers-institutes/membrane-protein-research/faculty.aspx
3-9-2026: Dima is pleased to share that he recently received a Global Research One-Way Seed Grant from the Office of International Affairs at Texas Tech. Thank you, Texas Tech!
3-9-2026: Ashley presented a research poster titled “Thermally Induced Disorder Effects in DPPC Lipid Membrane Phases” at the Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference (URC). Her presentation highlighted the effects of temperature on the structural organization and phase behavior of phospholipid membranes, a topic closely related to the biophysical mechanisms that govern membrane function and dynamics. The conference provided Ashley with an opportunity to communicate her research findings to a broad academic audience, engage with faculty and students from diverse disciplines, and further develop her scientific presentation and networking skills.
3-7-2026: Ashley is excited to announce that she will be spending this summer at the UT Health Sciences Center at San Antonio shadowing medical physicists. This opportunity was made possible through a connection with a professor at UT San Antonio and is being sponsored by the Texas Tech University Physics & Astronomy Department.
1-17-2026: Congratulations to Ashley, who was awarded a travel grant to attend the Southwest Regional Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (SWAAPM) Conference on February 5–7, 2026.
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