Our efforts are focused on establishing experimental methods for creating designed nanomaterial systems through self-organization. We integrate nanoparticles, biomolecules and polymers into unified systems to take advantage of their unique properties, and to exploit the emergent phenomena. Using tailored nano-structures, molecular recognitions, and macromolecular plasticity, we investigate how to build designed nanoscale systems with precise architectures, re-configuration properties, and the ability to react and process energy.
Our lab develops platform approaches for digitizing bottom-up nano-fabrication, and enabling dynamic control and animation of material systems. The lab explores applications of novel self-assembled nanomaterials for targeted functions, from optics to nanomedicine, and from catalysis to signal processing.
Research Focus
Programmable Nanoscale Assembly
One of the fundamental problems in bottom-up assembly of nanomaterials is difficulty creating arbitrary designed architectures from functionally relevant nanoscale blocks. This problem limits how we build targeted materials, integrate nanoscale blocks and manufacture nanoscale devices.
Engineered Nanoscale Biomaterials
Novel approaches are required for generating new biologically and chemically active biomaterials. For example, it is advantageous to establish methods for organizing proteins into designed 2D and 3D arrays, which remains a challenge for traditional protein crystallization. The capability to design controllable protein supramolecular structures can allow accumulation of a wealth of information (e.g., structure, genetics, function) onto a single structure, leading to a broad spectrum of application in nanotechnology, biomimetics and nanomedicine.
Self-Assembled Optical Nanomaterials
Architectured nanoparticle systems with light emitting and light absorbing nanoscale components, such as plasmonic nanoparticles and quantum dots, offer novel optical properties due to the collective effects. However, in order to realize tunable optical responses from such hetero-nanoparticle systems, well-defined nano-architectures with targeted nanoparticle arrangements have to be fabricated.
News
On April 30, 2026, Gloria Lee, a 5th year graduate student, gave a talk at the MRS 2026 Spring Meeting. Her presentation was titled "Three-Dimensional Mesoscale Patterning within Nanoscale Lattice Organizations". She was then recognized as a Silver Winner for her work, earning the Arthur Nowick Graduate Student Award. We are so proud of Gloria for her achievement!
Gloria wins scholarship from Korean American Society in Biotech and Pharmaceuticals (KASBP). This award signifies Gloria's potential to be an important contributor in the field of biomedical and pharmaceutical science.
Elad Arad, Mingxin He, Ashley Shay, and Professor Oleg Gang present research at Mathematics of the Origin of Life and Self-Organized Complexity Workshop. The workshop brought together theorists and experimentalists interested in emergent complexity, specifically in the contexts of the origin of life, self-organization, and self-assembly. This workshop is unique in bringing together experts from traditionally separate fields that share common themes. While the origin of life has often been explored through prebiotic chemistry, this workshop will adopt a mathematical perspective, viewing life as…
Katerina DeOlivares has been selected for the 2025 US Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Award. Her winning proposal focuses on fabricating high-strength, functional metamaterials by templating metal oxides onto 3D DNA nanostructures and characterizing their mechanical properties through in situ nanoindentation experiments. The study of these novel materials will be conducted in collaboration with scientists at Brookhaven National Lab.
Columbia’s Lab-to-Market Life Science Accelerators help translate innovative therapeutic and medical device research into real-world applications by providing funding, mentorship, and training to faculty-led teams. The BiomedX program focused specifically on medical devices, diagnostics, platform technologies, and software with direct health impacts. Over nine weeks, we participated in a weekly bootcamp that offered frameworks and tools to navigate the translation process from lab to clinic. The program culminated in BiomedX Pitch Day, where finalist teams presented their medtech concepts and…
Professor Oleg Gang and graduate student Gloria Lee present research at 2025 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on self-assembly and supramolecular chemistry. GRC was held at the Les Diablerets Conference Center in VD, Switzerland.
Dan Redeker gave 2 oral presentations: 1) Nanoscale Materials with Programmable and Reconfigurable States. 2) Periodic Reentrance Phase Transitions in DNA Origami Superlattices.
Gloria Lee gave an oral presentation: Mesoscale Multi-Shell Architectures with DNA-Programmable Nanoscale Organization.
Changan Li gave an oral presentation: Light-Directed DNA-Programmable Assembly of 3D Superlattices on Surfaces.
Zohar Arnon gave an oral presentation: Controlling Macrosclae Morphology in DNA-Based Assembly Using Acoustic Energy.
Daphne (Judai) Shen gave an oral presentation: heterogenous…
Gloria Lee won Excellent Abstract and Presentation Award for the poster presentation at the US-Korea Conference 2024 (UKC 2024) from Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA).
Gloria presented a poster on "Dynamic Control of Lattice Parameters in 3D DNA Frameworks through Switchable Motif".
Congratulations, Gloria!
