Welcome to the Kisley Lab
Materials at the ultimate concentration limit
We are a team of physicists, chemists, and engineers driven by curiosity to understand the world at the limit of a single molecule.
We study materials using nanoscale microscopy. We have the goal to inspire materials design through the following aims:
1) Approach medical & industrial material problems with a molecular, quantitative perspective using single molecule spectroscopy. Single molecule spectroscopy accesses heterogeneity hidden in traditional ensemble measurements.
2) Advance the single molecule materials field towards more complex, realistic conditions. We have a long-term vision of connecting the molecular results to the macroscale material performance.
3) Develop new microscopies that achieve a full physicochemical picture of molecular behavior. This includes how molecules adsorb, diffuse, and fold over space, time, and temperature.
Please check out our website for more details!
Research & Discoveries
The Kisley Lab images molecules interacting with bio/soft/metal materials using microscopy.
We track how molecules stick, move, react, or change conformation over space, time, and temperature.
New High-Resolution Microscopy Methods
Protein Dynamics in the Extracellular Matrix
How do proteins behave outside the cell?
Diffusion and Adsorption of Analytes in Separation Materials
Designing the most challenging separations from the bottom-up
Imaging Corrosion, One Redox Reaction at a Time
Detecting & understanding rust right when it starts
Reaching new scales even with noisy or low signal data
Learn more about our research:
Notable News
9/10/2024
The DOE grant will provide $875,000 in support to extend our single-molecule separation science research to rare earth elements (REEs). A new UV-excitation microscope will determine where & how individual REE ions are separated by bio-based ligands of varying size immobilized on solid supports under pressure. Learn more in CWRU's story in The Daily.
2026
Our lab and collaborators at UCSC are sharing the latest in our development of Tensile Expansion Microscopy (TExM) and Tensile Expansion Mass Spectrometry (TExMS). Check out the preprints here, with more to come!:
TExM: DOI: 10.64898/2026.02.20.707066
Group attends Biophysical Society Meeting
2/21- 2/26/2026
The Kisley Lab took over the BPS March Meeting in San Francisco! The group had several posters & talks, Anshuman received a travel award, and we even made a side trip to visit our collaborators in Santa Cruz.
Contact Us
Rockefeller Bldg.
2076 Adelbert Rd.
Cleveland, OH 44106-7079
216-368-2118
