Chad Rienstra
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Biophysics
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can reveal the atomic structure and motions of proteins and other biological molecules. However, it is slow, costly, and hard to learn, which limits how widely it is used.
- Fields
Biophysics
Chemistry
Biochemistry
- Topics
NMR spectroscopy
solid-state NMR
nuclear magnetic resonance
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2026
What they work on
- Develop micro-rotor packing and sample handling tools for ultra-fast magic-angle spinning (MAS), above 100 kHz in rotors under 1 mm wide, and benchmark NMR performed under magnetic field gradients.
- Automate parameter optimization and configuration of solid-state NMR spectrometers, and link data collection in real time to data processing.
- Design new narrow-bore magic-angle spinning probes for 600–900 MHz NMR magnets that can be adapted to higher-field instruments.
- Extend NMRFAM software for solid-state NMR signal assignment, structure determination, refinement, and validation, and apply the tools to collaborative studies of Lewy body proteins, antifungal drugs, and blood coagulation.
More about the research
Solid-state NMR (SSNMR), which studies molecules that do not dissolve freely, such as membrane proteins and protein clumps, is especially demanding. The value of any NMR experiment depends on three things: a high-quality sample under biologically realistic conditions, high-quality data, and the ability to interpret those data. This project develops technology in all three areas at NMRFAM, the NMR facility at UW-Madison, which has 600, 750, and 900 MHz instruments and custom probes.
Why it matters
Making NMR faster, cheaper, easier to learn, and more reproducible could let many more researchers use it to study biomedically important molecules. The collaborative projects connect these tools to Lewy body diseases such as synucleinopathies, to antifungal drug development, and to blood clotting.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Wei Qiang
Binghamton University, NY·Biophysics
Test proposed mechanistic models of local membrane leakage caused by on-pathway beta-amyloid fibril intermediates in liposomes, using solid-state NMR and signal-enhancing dynamic nuclear polarization.
Galia Debelouchina
University of California-San Diego, CA·Biophysics
Determine how heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1), a protein family central to gene silencing, interacts with itself, with chromatin and with partner proteins to set the material properties of heterochromatin compartments.
Robert Silvers
Florida State University, FL·Biophysics
Map how individual elements of the hLARP6 La-module contribute to the specificity and strength of its binding to the 5' stem-loop of type I collagen mRNAs, using solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
The school
University of Wisconsin-Madison: 91 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 854 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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