Research Areas
Dr. Hellenkamp's research focuses on developing single-molecule techniques to directly capture biomolecular dynamics and interactions. Integrating principles from biophysics, physical chemistry, nanotechnology, and electrical engineering, he designs innovative instrumentation with orthogonal signal transduction to probe protein and nucleic acid dynamics, protein aggregation, and small-molecule binding at the single-molecule level.
To enable real-time measurements in native-like environments, his group combines nanoscale electronic and optical sensing with tailored surface chemistries and advanced signal processing. Through a novel transduction mechanism, his current measurement platform achieves time-continuous recordings spanning hundreds of nanoseconds to several hours, extending the accessible temporal window of single-molecule measurements by orders of magnitude.
The overarching goal of his work is to bridge the gap between structure and dynamics by creating tools capable of capturing transient, heterogeneous, and non-equilibrium dynamics in biomolecular complexes often inaccessible to ensemble measurements. By resolving fast conformational transitions in real time, these tools can capture the immediate molecular response to oxidative and epigenetic modifications, as well as to small-molecule drugs functioning as allosteric regulators.
Ultimately, Dr. Hellenkamp aims to uncover the physical principles by which interaction- and environment-dependent structural transitions drive protein aggregation in human disease, laying the groundwork for predictive models and the rational design of therapeutics.
Education
- Postdoc in Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
- Ph.D. in Biophysics, Technical University of Munich
- M.S. in Applied Physics, Munich University of Applied Sciences
- B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Osnabrueck University of Applied Sciences