Dr. Liang Zhao

Education Background
Ph.D. Department of chemistry, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, 2002
B.S. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology, China, 1995

Research Area
Laser Spectroscopy, Microscopic imaging and instrumentation, bio-molecule dynamics

Technical skills
Time-resolved laser spectroscopy
Experimental expertise on various femtosecond laser system and other pulsed or continuous wave (CW) laser systems. Able to independently setup and manage state-of-the-art ultrafast laser lab. Able to carry out time-resolved measurements with ultra-fast temporal resolution. Experience with techniques such as fluorescence up-conversion, transient grating, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and time-correlated single photon-counting (TCSPC) etc.

Steady-state spectroscopy
Experimental expertise with the following steady-state instruments/methods:
UV-Vis-IR absorption (Shimadzu, Varian Cary), FTIR, Fluorescence (Varian), Circular dichroism (CD) (JASCO J-600), Laser Raman Spectroscopy (Dilor XY)

Bio-lab skills
Protein/peptide purification and characterization with HPLC, electrophoresis, lyophilization etc.
Fluorescence microscopy (EPI or TIRF), able to build complicated microscopic apparatus
Undergrad skills like sample preparation, titration, organic synthesis etc.

Computer skills
Software development for automated data acquisition and processing using Labview , Visual Basic and VBA.
Data analysis, plotting, curve fitting, graphics handling: Origin, Sigmaplot, Excel, ChemDraw, Adobe Photoshop
Word processing and presentation: MS word, Photoshop, EndNote, PowerPoint


Selected Publications

1. J. Lu, L. Zhao, T. Xia, and X. Qi, "Dissect Conformational Distribution and Drug-Induced Population Shift of Prokaryotic rRNA A-Site", Biochemistry, 52, 1651-1653 (2013)

2. M. McIntire, L. Zhao, V. Kobryanskii and E. L. Chronister, "High-pressure Raman spectroscopy of nanoparticle polyacetylene in a poly(