Michael Kienzler

Assistant Professor

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley
• Ph.D. Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
• B.S. Chemistry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Research Interests

We are broadly interested in using light to induce reversible chemical changes, and we specialize in the application of photoswitches to make light-modulated tools. Our current projects focus on creating and applying azobenzene ligands targeted toward specific cell-membrane bound protein receptors and ion channels. A parallel interest in the group is using organic synthesis to make new azobenzene derivatives (along with other organic photoswitches) with prescribed photochemical properties.