PI: Research description | Pearson

Prof. Dr. Arwen Pearson

Affiliation

Institute for Nanostructure and Solid State Physics
Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging,
Universität Hamburg,
CFEL Bldg. 99,
Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg

E-Mail: arwen.pearson@cfel.de
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» ORCID

» Pearson Lab at the University of Hamburg

Target

Research in our group is focussed on understanding how biological macromolecules are able to carry out their functions, from catalysing chemical reactions and transporting small molecules and information across membranes. We take a structural biology approach to this challenge, developing the tools and technologies needed for time-resolved structural studies.

Method

The core expertise of the group is the development of methods for time-resolved X-ray crystallography, but we also have expertise in scattering, spectroscopy and biochemistry. We use neutrons, photons and electrons in our work. We also have expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, developing new photo cages for reaction initiation in time-resolved measurements. We co-operate the T-REXX end station at PETRA III with the EMBL. T-REXX is dedicated to time-resolved structural biology and has been in user operation since March 2019.

Main areas of research

• Development of methods for time-resolved serial synchrotron crystallography
• Synthesis & characterisation of new photocages for time-resolved studies
• Spectroscopy (UV-Vis, (r)Raman, THz)
• Protein dynamics