Oleg Gang

PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND OF APPLIED PHYSICS AND MATERIALS SCIENCE

817 S.W. Mudd

Tel(212) 854-1095

Oleg Gang explores the behavior of soft and biomolecular systems and develops novel nanomaterial fabrication strategies based on self-organization. His research interests cover nanoparticle assembly and functionality, polymers and biopolymers, hybrid systems built from bioderived and nanoscale components, liquids, and colloidal phenomena. To probe materials in relevant environments, in action and in 3D, Gang uses a broad range of methods, including synchrotron techniques and nanoscale imaging.  Gang actively develops novel strategies for creating designed nanoscale architectures through programmable self-assembly, where biomolecules, polymers and external fields guide a system formation and transformation. The main objective of the research program is to enable autonomous material systems that exhibit designed spatial organization, pathway programmable behavior, and can be dynamically controlled. The developed methods are used to create new materials with targeted optical, mechanical and biomedical functions.

Research Interests

Soft matter and biomaterials at nanoscale and at the interfaces; Programmable self-assembly of nanoscale architectures; DNA nanotechnology; Hybrid bio-nano materials; Nanoscale materials for optical, mechanical and biomedical applications; , X-ray scattering methods.

Gang earned MS and Ph.D. (2000) from Bar-Ilan University (Israel), specializing in Atomic Spectroscopy and Soft Matter, respectively. As a postdoctoral Distinguished Rothschild Fellow at Harvard University, he studied nanoscale wetting phenomena and structure of liquid interfaces. Gang has started at Brookhaven National Laboratory as a Distinguished Goldhaber Fellow in 2002, rising through the ranks to lead the Soft and Bio-Nanomaterials group at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials from 2008. In 2016, Gang has joined Columbia University as a Professor of Chemical Engineering, and of Applied Physics and Materials Science.

Gang has received numerous awards and recognitions, including University President Award and Wolf Foundation scholarship for his PhD work, Rothschild and Goldhaber fellowships, Department of Energy Outstanding Mentor Award, Gordon Battelle Prize for Scientific Discovery, has been named Battelle Inventor of the Year, and he is a Fellow of American Physical Society.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

  • Goldhaber Fellow, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2002-2003
  • Postdoctoral Rothschild Fellow, Harvard University, 1999–2002

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 2016–
  • Professor, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, 2016–
  • Group leader for Soft and Bionanomaterials, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2008-
  • Staff Scientist, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2004–2016

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • American Physical Society, Material Research Society 

HONORS & AWARDS

  • Battelle Inventor of the Year, 2016
  • Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society 2014
  • BNL Science and Technology Award for Outstanding Achievements 2011
  • Gordon Battelle Prize for Scientific Discovery, 2010
  • Department of Energy Outstanding Mentor Award, 2009
  • Rothschild Foundation Distinguished Fellowship, 2000
  • Wolf Foundation Scholarship for outstanding Ph.D. research, 1997

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • W. Liu, J. Halverson, Y. Tian, A.V. Tkachenko, O. Gang, “Self-organized architectures from assorted DNA-framed nanoparticles”, Nature Chemistry 8, 867–873 (2016)
  • W. Liu, M. Tagawa, H. Xin, T. Wang, H. Emamy, H. Li, K. G. Yager, F. W. Starr, A. V. Tkachenko, and O. Gang, “Diamond Family of Nanoparticle Superlattices”, Science 351, 6273, 582 (2016)
  • Y. Tian, T. Wang, Y. Zhang, H. Li and O. Gang “Lattice Engineering via Nanoparticle-DNA Frameworks", Nature Materials, (2016)
  • Y. Zhang, B. Srinivasan, T. Vo, S. Pal, S. Kumar, and O. Gang, "Selective Re-Programming Transforms Nanoparticle Superlattices", Nature Materials, 14, 840-847 (2015)
  • D. Sun, Y. Tian, Y. Zhang, Z. Xu, M.Y. Sfeir, M. Cotlet, and O. Gang, “Light-Harvesting Nanoparticle Core-Shell Clusters with Controllable Optical Output,” ACS Nano 9(6), 5657-5665 (2015)
  • Y. Zhang, F. Lu, K. G. Yager, D. van der Lelie, and O. Gang “A general strategy for the DNA-mediated self-assembly of functional nanoparticles into heterogeneous systems”, Nature Nanotechnology, 8, 865 (2013)
  • F. Lu, Y. Tian, M. Z. Liu, D. Su, H. Zhang, A. O. Govorov, and O. Gang, “Discrete Nanocubes as Plasmonic Reporters of Molecular Chirality,” Nano Lett. 13 (7), 3145 (2013)
  • M. M. Maye, K. Mudalidge, D. Nykypanchuk, W. Sherman, and O. Gang  ”Molecularly Switchable Nanoparticle Superlattices and Clusters with Binary  States", Nature Nanotechnology, 6, 116, (2010)
  • H. M. Xiong, D. van der Lelie, and O. Gang, "Phase Behavior of Nanoparticles Assembled by DNA Linkers", Physical Review Letters 102, 015504 (2009)
  • D. Nykypanchuk, M. M. Maye, D. van der Lelie, and O. Gang, "DNA-guided crystallization of colloidal nanoparticles", Nature 451, 549 (2008)