Claus Hélix-Nielsen
Professor, Head of Department
Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering
Building 118 Room 142
Lipid-protein interactions Biomimetic membranes Membrane transport Membrane channel proteins Electrophysiology Spectroscopy
My research is centered on lipid-protein interactions. In particular how the hydrophobic coupling between transmembrane proteins and their host bilayer may regulate protein function through changes in the bilayer mechanical properties. Also how membrane mechanical properties affect overall membrane dynamics (e.g. vesiculation). The technological goal of my research is to create biomimetic membranes for biosensor and separation (filtering) applications. Our techniques are electrophysiology, fluorescence-, electron paramagnetic-, and Raman spectroscopy, as well as molecular dynamics and continuum modeling.