Dr. Christy Landes

Biography

Christy Landes earned her B.S. in Chemistry from George Mason University in 1998, followed by a Ph.D. awarded by the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2003 under the direction of Mostafa El-Sayed. After completing postdoctoral positions at the University of Oregon and the University of Texas at Austin, she began her independent academic career at the University of Houston in 2006. She joined Rice University in 2009, where she was appointed to the Kenneth S. Pitzer-Schlumberger Chair in Chemistry. In 2023, she transitioned to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests lie in physical and analytical materials chemistry, with a focus on predictive separations, spectro-electrochemistry, protein dynamics at interfaces, imaging signal processing, and single-molecule spectroscopy. Landes aims to understand complex structure-function relationships in biological processes to inspire innovation in materials design, with practical objectives targeting cost efficiency and optimized longevity of engineered materials. By studying individual molecules and eliminating ensemble averages, her work seeks to reveal underlying conformational complexities and improve data acquisition methods in single-molecule spectroscopy, ultimately optimizing information retrieval and characterizing diverse structure-function relationships across both biological and synthetic systems.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards