Marilyn Gunner is a physics professor at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

(CUNY) and a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. She is known for her work on

molecular biophysics Molecular biophysics is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary area of research that combines concepts in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology. It seeks to understand biomolecular systems and explain biological function in terms ...

and

structural biology Structural biology is a field that is many centuries old which, and as defined by the Journal of Structural Biology, deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every le ...

Education

Gunner received her B.A. from the State University of New York (Binghamton). She completed her Ph.D. in 1988 at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, where she worked on topics such as electron transfer in proteins with Leslie Dutton.

Career and research

Gunner previously worked in the lab of

Barry Honig Barry H. Honig (born 1941) is an American biochemist, molecular biophysicist, and computational biophysicist, who develops theoretical methods and computer software for "analyzing the structure and function of biological macromolecules." Education ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where she studied electrostatic control of proteins. She is now a professor in the physics department at CUNY where she has continued to study protein interactions. As of 2021, her 140 publications have been cited over 5,800 times. She is the lead investigator of the Multi-Conformation Continuum Electrostatics (MCCE) project, which is "a biophysics simulation program combining continuum electrostatics and molecular mechanics." Gunner was also part of a collaboration which measured the efficiency of energy storage in

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...

, work that could have implications for

astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investig ...

. In 2006, Gunner served as the chair of the Division of Biological Physics in the American Physical Society. She currently serves as a member of the editorial board for both the ''

Journal of the Royal Society Interface The ''Journal of the Royal Society Interface'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the interface between the life sciences and the physical sciences, including chemistry, engineering, materials science, mathematics, and physi ...

'' and

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta ''Biochimica et Biophysica Acta'' (''BBA'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of biochemistry and biophysics that was established in 1947. The journal is published by Elsevier with a total of 100 annual issues in ten specialised ...

– Bioenergetics. Gunner has also served as both a general member and as a member of the board of directors for the Telluride Science Research Center.

Awards and recognition

*The

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White ...

(1996)'': "For biophysics of proteins"'' *Fellow of the American Physical Society, Division of Biological Physics (2007)'': "For her work in both experimental and theoretical studies of electron and proton transfer processes in proteins, in particular for her beautiful work coupling the theory of electrostatic interactions to the dynamics of charge transfer in photosynthetic reaction centers , and in recognition of her service to the Division of Biological Physics."''

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American physicists City College of New York faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers {{US-physicist-stub