Dan Sisan is a postdoc in the Physics Department at Georgetown University, working with Jeff Urbach. He conducts research in biological physics, using, among other tools, a spinning disk confocal microscope and a laser tweezer. Previously, he was a graduate student in Dan Lathrop's lab at the University of Maryland, where he conducted liquid sodium experiments that modeled the Earth's core, and later the magneto-rotational instability, an important aspect in the formation of stars, planets, and galaxies.

Teaching

Fall '07: Phys. 518, Soft Condensed Matter Physics
MWF 12:15-1:05, Reiss 261A
Office hours: After class or by appointment, Reiss 542 (the door says Dr. Malinin)
Final exam solutions

Spring '07: Physics 108 Tutorial

Featured picture

A 2 micron sphere being pulled with a laser tweezer through labeled actin (arrow above sphere shows direction of pull), with 4% alpha-actinin cross-linker. Note the buildup of actin along two lines forming a cone behind the sphere, and the evacuation of actin inside the cone. Actin is a primary component of the cytoskeleton of cells. Mechanical forces in cells are important in part because they can affect the cell's biochemistry and gene expression. (w/ A. Pomerance, E. Rericha, B. Brelsford, Tweezermän, and J. Urbach)

Contact

506 Reiss Bldg.	Office: 202 687 6063 (try lab first)
Dept. of Physics	Lab: 202 687 6004
Georgetown University	Fax: 202 687 2087
Washington, DC 20057