Ph.D., Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel; Postdoc, Keck Biomolecular Laser Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Organic and Physical Chemistry

The Samuni group's research is interdisciplinary in nature involving physical chemistry, biophysics, photonics and nanophotonics. The main objective of the research is combining spectroscopy, specifically, resonance Raman and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), sol-gel encapsulation of proteins and nanoparticles. In sol-gel encapsulation, proteins are embedded in the inert and optically transparent sol-gel matrix and yet remain functionally active. This constitutes a unique platform for the study of protein conformational dynamics and the characterization of non-equilibrium conformations as they relate to protein function. Moreover, depending on the preparative conditions, this novel photonic material lends itself to a large range of applications such as biosensors and sol-gel based nanoparticles and their biomedical applications.