Editors for Physics of Living Systems

We aim to review studies in which experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches, rooted in the physical sciences, are developed and/or applied to provide deep insights into the collective properties and function of multicomponent biological systems and processes. We also welcome descriptions of methods that could enable the interrogation of classes of biological systems in new ways, as well as interdisciplinary studies that bring together scientists and approaches from the physical and life sciences. Read the latest research in this subject area.

Senior editors

  1. Aleksandra Walczak

    Ecole Normale Superieure, France

    Aleksandra Walczak received her PhD in physics at UCSD working on models of stochastic gene expression. After a graduate fellowship at KITP, she was a Princeton Center for Theoretical Science Fellow, focusing on applying information theory to signal processing in small gene regulatory networks. Currently she is a CNRS researcher at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, interested in a variety of problems in the physics of living systems.

    She actively works on development, collective behavior of bird flocks and statistical descriptions of the immune system.

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Immunology and Inflammation
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    biophysics
    quantitative immunology
    probabilistic data analysis
    theoretical models
    development
    collective behaviour
    Competing interests statement
    Aleksandra Walczak is the recipient of a CNRS-Chicago Cooperation Grant, a FACCTS CNRS-Chicago Cooperation Grant, an IRN CNRS Predictability, Adaptability Evolution network collaboration grant, a CNRS-MIT Cooperation Grant, a q-Life Grant "The physics of repair and silencing foci?, an ERC Proof of Concept Grant "Automated evaluation and correction of generation bias in immune receptor repertoires", a DFG CRC "Predictability in evolution", an ERC International Training Network QuanTII grant, and an ERC Consolidator Grant "Statistical physics of immune-viral co-evolution”.

Reviewing editors

  1. Alaa A Ahmed

    University of Colorado Boulder, United States

    Expertise
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    biomechanics
    motor control
    motor learning
    decision making
    neuroeconomics
    computational neuroscience
    energetics
    Experimental organism
    human
  2. Toby W Allen

    RMIT University, Australia

    Expertise
    Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Physics of Living Systems
    Neuroscience
    Research focus
    computational biophysics
    molecular dynamics
    free-energy calculations
    ion channels
    ion permeation
    membranes
  3. Ariel Amir

    Harvard University, United States

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    mathematical modeling
    stochastic processes
    microbial growth
    cell size control
    gene expression
    microbial evolution
    phenotypic variability
  4. Nathalie Q Balaban

    The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    self-replicating matter
  5. Patricia Bassereau

    Institut Curie, France

    Expertise
    Cell Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Research focus
    physics of cells
    membrane biophysics
    mechanobiology
    intracellular traffic
    endocytosis
    adhesion
    cellular protrusions
    biomimetic membranes
  6. Kurt Beam

    University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States

    Expertise
    Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle
    voltage-gated calcium channels
    calcium release channels
  7. Gordon Berman

    Emory University, United States

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    animal behavior
    theoretical biophysics
    computational neuroscience
    computational ethology
    Experimental organism
    D. melanogaster
    mouse
    rat
  8. Anne-Florence Bitbol

    Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne , Switzerland

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Research focus
    biophysics
    theory and modeling
    protein sequence data
    models of evolution
  9. Felix Campelo

    The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Cell Biology
    Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Research focus
    membrane mechanics
    membrane curvature
    intracellular trafficking
    membrane organization
    membrane contact sites
    Golgi complex
    endoplasmic reticulum exit sites
    super-resolution microscopy
    single-molecule microscopy
    Experimental organism
    human
    S. cerevisiae
  10. Irene Giardina

    Università Sapienza, Italy

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    active living matter
    collective behavior in groups (physicist perspective)s
  11. Raymond E Goldstein

    University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    Biological physics
    fluid dynamics
    multicellularity
    developmental biology
    Experimental organism
    Chlamydomonas
    volvox
    choanoflagellates
    dinoflagellates
  12. Martin Graña

    Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

    Expertise
    Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Evolutionary Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Research focus
    protein 3D structure
    structural bioinformatics
    structure/function relationships
    evolution
  13. Yaroslav Ispolatov

    Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Ecology
    Evolutionary Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    evolution
    diversification
    adaptive dynamics
    ecology
    systems biology
    CRISPR
  14. Megan C King

    Yale School of Medicine, United States

    Expertise
    Cell Biology
    Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    Genetics and Genomics
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    nuclear envelope
    nuclear lamins
    LINC complex
    nuclear mechanics
    DNA repair
    genome organisation
    Experimental organism
    mouse
  15. Michael Kozlov

    Tel Aviv University, Israel

    Expertise
    Cell Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    modeling membrane shapes
    membrane curvature
    membrane fusion
    membrane fission
    membrane bending by proteins
  16. David M Kramer

    Michigan State University, United States

    Expertise
    Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    Plant Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Research focus
    photosynthesis
    bioenergetics
    electron and proton transfer
    computation
    phenotyping
    phenomics
  17. Sandeep Krishna

    National Centre for Biological Sciences­ ‐ Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Research focus
    gene regulatory networks
    phage-bacteria interactions
    microbial communities
    multistability
    oscillations and synchronization
  18. Karsten Kruse

    University of Geneva, Switzerland

    Expertise
    Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    cell migration
    cell signalling
    theoretical biology
    molecular evolution
  19. Melike Lakadamyali

    University of Pennsylvania, United States

    Expertise
    Cell Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    super resolution microscopy
    imaging
    image analysis
    chromatin structure
    genome organisation
    organelle trafficking
    motor proteins
    microtubule cytoskeleton
    Experimental organism
    human
    mouse
  20. David Lentink

    University of Groningen, Netherlands

    Expertise
    Ecology
    Evolutionary Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    animal locomotion
    comparative biomechanics
    animal navigation
    movement ecology
    evolutionary biology
    biofluids
    biophysics
    bioinspired robotics
    bioinspiration & biomimetics
    Experimental organism
    birds
    insects
    bats
    plant seeds
    fish
  21. Matthieu Louis

    University of California, Santa Barbara, United States

    Expertise
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    olfaction
    sensorimotor
    computational ethology
    motor control
    locomotion
    biomechanics
    tool development
    Experimental organism
    D. melanogaster
    C. elegans
  22. Pascal Martin

    Institut Curie, France

    Expertise
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    active mechanical processes
    hair cells of the inner ear
    molecular motors and the cytoskeleton
    oscillations
    mechanosensitivity
    frequency selectivity
    in vitro reconstituted motor systems
    Experimental organism
    rat
    Xenopus
  23. Alphee Michelot

    Institut de Biologie du Développement, France

    Expertise
    Cell Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    cytoskeleton
    actin dynamics
    motility
    endocytosis
    cytokinesis
    actin mechanics
    energy conversion
    force transduction
    Experimental organism
    S. cerevisiae
  24. Babak Momeni

    Boston College, United States

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Microbiology and Infectious Disease
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    microbial communities
    community ecology
    mathematical modelling
    computational biology
    applied microbiology
    bioremediation
    mycotoxins
    nasal microbiota
  25. Arvind Murugan

    University of Chicago, United States

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    biological learning and adaptation in changing environments
    learned behavious in materials
  26. Marcos Nahmad

    Centre for Research and Advanced Studies, Mexico

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Developmental Biology
    Genetics and Genomics
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    growth control
    drosophila genetics
    developmental patterning
    mathematical modelling
  27. Richard A Neher

    University of Basel, Switzerland

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Evolutionary Biology
    Research focus
    population genetics
    evolution of RNA viruses
    bioinformatics
  28. Armita Nourmohammad

    University of Washington, United States

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Evolutionary Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Immunology and Inflammation
    Research focus
    population genetics
    computational immunology
    adaptive immunity
    statistical physics
    deep mutational scanning
    information theory
    statistical inference
    gene expression evolution
    Experimental organism
    D. melanogaster
    human
    viruses
  29. Timothy O'Leary

    Cambridge University, United Kingdom

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    computational neuroscience
    theoretical neuroscience
    neurophysiology
    systems neuroscience
    homeostasis
    Experimental organism
    mouse
    rat
    D. melanogaster
    cancer borealis
  30. C. Brandon Ogbunugafor

    Yale University, United States

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Evolutionary Biology
    Epidemiology and Global Health
    Physics of Living Systems
    Microbiology and Infectious Disease
    Research focus
    disease ecology
    microbial evolution
    population genetics
    epidemiology
    evolutionary medicine
    Experimental organism
    E. coli
    human
    P. falciparum
    S. cerevisiae
    viruses
  31. Rohit V Pappu

    Washington University in St Louis, United States

    Expertise
    Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    biophysics
    intrinsically disordered proteins
    intracellular phase transition phenomena
    organization of proteins and nucleic acids
  32. Benjamin L Prosser

    University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, United States

    Expertise
    Cell Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    Research focus
    cardiac function
    muscle
    cardiomyocytes
    mechanotransduction
    cytoskeleton
    microtubules
    sarcomere
  33. Agnese Seminara

    Université Côte d'Azur, France

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    biomechanics of bacterial biofilm growth
    violent discharge
    atmospheric dispersal of fungal spores
    computational navigation
    Experimental organism
    B. subtilis
    mouse
  34. Pierre Sens

    Institut Curie, France

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    statistical physics
    soft matter
    membrane
    cell mechanics
    cell motility
    organelles
  35. Daniel Y Takahashi

    Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

    Expertise
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Ecology
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    social interaction
    vocal learning
    neurophysiology
    computational modeling
    ontogeny of behavior
  36. John C Tuthill

    University of Washington, United States

    Expertise
    Neuroscience
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    sensory coding
    motor control
    locomotion
    animal behavior
    proprioception
    weird insects
    Experimental organism
    drosophila
    chionea
  37. David Van Valen

    California Institute of Technology, United States

    Expertise
    Physics of Living Systems
    Computational and Systems Biology
    Research focus
    encoding
    viral decision making
    living systems
    image segmentation
  38. Jie Xiao

    Johns Hopkins University, United States

    Expertise
    Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    Cell Biology
    Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    Microbiology and Infectious Disease
    Physics of Living Systems
    Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    Research focus
    single molecule biophysics
    microbiology
    cell division
    cell wall
    gene expression
    Experimental organism
    E. coli
  39. Ahmet Yildiz

    University of California, Berkeley, United States

    Expertise
    Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    Physics of Living Systems
    Research focus
    dynein
    kinesin
    myosin
    intraflagellar transport
    Experimental organism
    human
    yeast
    Chlamydomonas