John C. Crocker
Associate Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE)
Email | Personal Webpage | Research Webpage
Honors and Awards: Popular Science Magazine Brilliant 10 Member - 2005, Packard Fellow - 2002
Research Expertise: Directed Self-assembly | Active and Soft Matter Physics | Cell Biophysics
John's research concerns the mechanical properties of small objects, ranging from single molecules to living cells. His nanotechnology work is centered on self-assembly, growing useful devices and structures from smaller parts in a biology-inspired, organic fashion. John uses DNA as a programmable adhesive, directing microscopic parts to spontaneously form a crystal-like ordered pattern. His lab has pioneered new methods for quantifying the mechanical response of both single molecules and cells to small forces.
Member of:- Nano/Bio Interface Center (NBIC)
- Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM)
- Institute for Medicine and Engineering (IME)
Education:
PhD Physics 1996 - University of Chicago
AM Physics 1992 - University of Chicago
AB Physics 1990 - University of Chicago
Recent Publications 
- Driving diffusionless transformations in colloidal crystals using DNA handshaking, Casey, M.T. | Scarlett, R.T. | Benjamin Rogers, W. | Jenkins, I. | Sinno, T. | Crocker, J.C., Nature Communications, 2012
- Nanoparticles at fluid interfaces: Exploiting capping ligands to control adsorption, stability and dynamics, Garbin, V. | Crocker, J.C. | Stebe, K.J., Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2012
- Reply to Mognetti et al.: DNA handshaking interaction data are well described by mean-field and molecular models, Rogers, W.B. | Crocker, J.C., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012
- Forced desorption of nanoparticles from an oil-water interface, Garbin, V. | Crocker, J.C. | Stebe, K.J., Langmuir, 2012
- Direct measurements of DNA-mediated colloidal interactions and their quantitative modeling, Rogers, W.B. | Crocker, J.C., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011