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Aaron Brewster

Staff Scientist

Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging

  • Structural Biology

Building: 33, Room 339D
Mail Stop: 33R0345
Phone: (310) 795-9899
asbrewster@lbl.gov


Programs & Initiatives

Computational Crystallographic Initiative (CCI)
NeXus international advisory committee (NIAC)

Research Interests

I focus on serial crystallography computational methods development by researching new algorithms and methods for data reduction at high-energy XFEL sources and synchrotrons. I’m interested in all aspects of the process, from modeling the physics of photon diffraction to file formats and metadata standards to using supercomputers to process huge amounts of data in real time to data visualization.

I am a member of the data reduction team of the Computational Crystallography initiative (cci.lbl.gov), focused on analysis of diffraction data from advanced light sources, including X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs).

I am also researching as part of a large collaboration with the University of Connecticut and MIT the crystal engineering of hybrid coordination polymers towards achieving rational control over the optoelectronic properties of low-dimensional nanostructures.  We are using machine learning principles to add advanced spatial and symmetry aware neural network training methods to small-molecule chemical crystallography and material science data processing.  Press release.

Selected Publications

LinkedIn Profile
ResearchGate Profile

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Researchers Capture Elusive Missing Step in Photosynthesis

May 5, 2023

After decades of effort, scientists have revealed atomic-scale details of the water splitting step of photosynthesis, the chemical process that generates the air we breathe. The latest work adds to our understanding of photosynthesis and will aid the development of fully renewable alternative energy sources.

Crystallography for the Misfit Crystals

January 19, 2022

Nicholas Sauter, a computer senior scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division, is co-leading a team working to provide a better way for scientists to study the structures of the many materials that don’t form tidy single crystals. Their new technique, called small-molecule serial femtosecond X-ray crystallography, or smSFX, supercharges traditional crystallography with the addition of custom-built image processing algorithms and an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL). In a paper published in Nature, the team demonstrated proof-of-principle for smSFX and reported the previously unknown structures of two metal-organic materials known as chacogenolates.

Chloro-phylling in the Answers to Big Questions

December 1, 2021

A team of scientists, including many in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, uncovered new details about the reaction that powers photosynthesis. Understanding this reaction could lead to world-changing advances in technology, medicine, or energy––and also gives insight into how the enzyme photosystem II produces the oxygen we breathe. Their latest work was recently published in Nature Communications and two of the authors, Vittal Yachandra and Philipp Simon, spoke with Strategic Communications about that, shooting stuff with lasers, and why they chose this field of research.

For more Aaron Brewster news items »

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