Researcher

Taekjip Ha

Profile

Taekjip Ha is Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University and an HHMI Investigator, widely regarded as one of the founders of single-molecule biophysics. He pioneered single-molecule Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) as a tool for watching individual biomolecules move, fold, and react in real time, enabling researchers to observe dynamic conformational changes invisible to ensemble techniques. Ha's laboratory has applied smFRET and single-molecule force spectroscopy to decode the mechanisms of helicases, polymerases, nucleosomes, CRISPR-Cas complexes, and RNA-protein assemblies. He developed CoSMoS (co-localization single-molecule spectroscopy) and numerous microfluidic single-molecule platforms that are now commercialized and widely distributed. Ha's work has fundamental implications for understanding DNA repair, replication, transcription, and viral entry mechanisms. His laboratory is a leading purchaser and developer of custom TIRF microscopes, optical traps, single-molecule fluorescence detection systems, and microfluidic devices, and he regularly collaborates with instrument manufacturers on next-generation single-molecule systems. Ha has received the Ho-Am Prize, the Biophysical Society's Distinguished Lecture, and election to the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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