Welcome to the Van Lehn Group!

We use molecular simulations and data-centric methods to characterize, predict, and engineer the behavior of synthetic and biological soft materials. We study a range of soft materials, including nanoparticles, peptides, lipid membranes, liquid crystals, and polymers, for applications relevant to human health, sustainability, and energy. Our research is purely computational and is complemented by close collaborations with a variety of experimental groups. Current research directions include (1) designing synthetic materials to interact with biological systems for applications in drug delivery and biosensing, (2) screening solvents for polymer dissolution and depolymerization for applications in plastics recycling and biomass valorization, (3) uncovering rules governing interactions with lipid membranes for drug delivery and antimicrobial applications, and (4) understanding structure in complex liquid environments for applications in biomaterials design, energy storage, and catalysis.

  • New grants!

    We’re thankful to have to received two new grants in support of group research, including (1) support from the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute to design mixtures of green solvents to replace halogenated solvents, …

  • Funding support for new Center

    The group is excited to be part of the new Center for Mineral and Mineral Oxide Removal from Biomass (CMORE)! CMORE will develop methods to convert biomass and municipal solid waste into demineralized and nitrogen-free …

  • Amy defends her PhD!

    Congratulations to Dr. Amy Qin for successfully defending her PhD entitled “Machine Learning Methods for Chemical Property Prediction, Sensing, and Design.” Amy will be starting a new role as a Senior Research Specialist at DOW …

  • Welcome to Ali!

    The group is thrilled to welcome another first-year student – Ali Altamimi! Ali is the first student from the Department of Chemistry to join the group – read more about him at the People page. …

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