Chemistry Nobelist Eric Betzig (R) and world-class biophysicist Na Ji (L) will join Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley in the summer of 2017. They will serve as faculty scientists in the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division of the Biosciences Area.
Betzig comes to Berkeley from Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia. A self-described inventor with a physics education, he was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work to surpass the theoretical limitations of high-resolution microscopes. Na Ji, a distinguished biophysicist also coming from HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus, studies optical imaging technology development and its application in neurobiology and has made major advances in sharpening microscopy images using adaptive optics, first developed for telescopes, for the study of the activity of neural circuits in the cerebral cortex.
Berkeley Lab Director Michael Witherell said he was elated that Betzig and Ji have agreed to join Berkeley Lab as well, “Their groundbreaking work will add to the strength of the Lab’s Biosciences Area.” Read more on UC Berkeley News.
