Michelle Brann (she/her) is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Öberg Group at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). She holds a chemistry PhD from the Sibener Group at the University of Chicago where she explored gas-surface dynamics. She defended in May 2022 and spent one year as a NRC postdoc at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) prior to joining the CfA in fall 2023. She is also an executive commmittee member of the National Younger Chemists Committee of the American Chemical Society. After graduating from Wellesley College in May 2015 with a BA with Honors in Chemistry and a minor in Mathematics, she worked for one year as a research associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in the National Security Directorate.
PhD in Chemistry, 2022
University of Chicago
MS in Chemistry, 2017
University of Chicago
BA with Honors in Chemistry, Minor in Mathematics, 2015
Wellesley College
Characterized the response of C. reinhardtii to heat shock as a form as a form of oxidative stress by examining metabolic, biochemical, and gene expression changes.
Novel methods to traceably measure the quantum efficiency and stability of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs).
Developed a biomimetic coating with excellent water/liquid repulsion and shedding properties and the unique ability for continued performance when stretched.
Used ion mobility spectrometry to test new thin film coatings for improved detection of trace explosives.
Designed a 3D printed flow cell and developed a novel technique to monitor and quantify three-dimensional topology and structure of live biofilms with white light interferometry.
Destruction of nerve agent simulants.
Using supersonic molecular beams and time-resolved FT-RAIR Spectroscopy under ultra-high vacuum to examine how impinging molecules adsorb, react, or diffuse into frozen ice films and destruction of nerve agent simulants.
Exploration of thimet oligopeptidase (TOP) modifications, specifically phosphorylation, that affects TOP’s relationship with GnRH and thus prostate tumor cell proliferation in vitro.