HARNESING THE LIGHT AT THE NANOSCALE

Welcome to the Bio-Engineered Nanophotonics group. We develop photoactive biohybrids—synthetic systems that integrate key components of natural photosystems. Our research focuses on understanding how protein amino acids influence chromophore relaxation dynamics, unlocking new possibilities for bio-inspired nanotechnology and photonics.

Our Mission. We tackle challenges in photoactive biohybrid development by establishing new design strategies to manipulate protein-chromophore interaction network in a controlled way based on biohybrid minimization. 

Our Research Approach. we use recombinant proteins designed with pockets to embed the chromophore in an environment that can be tuned at the nanoscale. Our designed protein scaffolds allow us to modify the nature of the protein-chromophore interaction and strength. Using time-resolved spectroscopic methods, we track the excited state decay dynamics of the chromohores and address key questions on their role in the biohybrid photoresponse. 

Our Vision. Our ultimate goal is to define the fundamental principles of biohybrid design and be able to control their relaxation dynamics to ansform biohybrids into a powerful technological tool.for advanced nanophotonic applications in next-generation technologies.