Wayne State physics professor earns distinguished NSF CAREER Award

Professor Chris Kelly has been part of the Wayne State University physics department since 2013. This year, Kelly received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Kelly was awarded $500,000 for his proposal, "The nanoscale dynamics of molecular sorting, membrane curvature, and endocytosis." He also received the Richard J. Barber Faculty Award from Wayne State's Department of Physics and Astronomy Department, which will fund Kelly's research for five years.

Much of that research will take place in the Kelly Lab in the Physics Building, where he works with two Ph.D. candidates and three biomedical physics undergraduate students.

These awards will allow Kelly to support young scientists and further understanding of the physical principles that govern the bending of biological membranes. The development and implementation of super-resolution microscopes will focus on the molecular behaviors that govern key neurological, immunological and metabolic functions.

Part of the award will be used for a collaboration with the Michigan Science Center, where Kelly hopes to create optic exploration kits.

The NSF award number for this grant is #1652316.

Written by CLAS communications associate Christiana Castillo