PIs

Associate Professor, University of Chicago 🔗
Status: unreviewed revisit date: None Application status: none LOR status: not_needed
Department(s)/lab(s): Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Rock Lab @ UChicago
Summary:

Rock builds custom single-molecule fluorescence microscopes and optical tweezers to directly watch individual myosin motors move along the actin cytoskeleton in vitro and in living cells, quantifying motor stoichiometry, force generation, and navigation rules that organize cell shape and motility. Where NV-ensemble quantum sensors read out spin ensembles magnetically at pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity via DEER/NMR/T1 protocols, Rock's approach achieves single-fluorophore and single-motor mechanical/positional resolution using all-optical single-molecule methods.

Created at: July 9, 2026, 6:55 p.m. Updated at: July 9, 2026, 6:55 p.m. Metadata: Jul 2026; single-molecule myosin motor biophysics