Profile
David Jacobson
Chemistry
Assistant Professor
Hunter Hall 157 [Office]
Hunter Hall 373 [Office]
Hunter Hall 425 [Lab]
Hunter Hall 436 [Lab]
Hunter Hall 443 [Lab]
Educational Background
B.A., Biochemistry & Physics, University of Pennsylvania, 2011
Ph.D., Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2016
Profile/About Me
David received his B.A. in Physics and Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, working under Prof. Omar Saleh to use single-molecule magnetic tweezers experiments to measure the elasticity and ion interactions of single-stranded nucleic acids. As a postdoc, he developed AFM-based single-molecule methods for measuring membrane-protein energetics under Prof. Tom Perkins at JILA. He began his independent laboratory at Clemson in 2023.
Research Interests
Proteins embedded in the cell membrane are key to many biological processes and are the targets of many drugs because they contact both the cytoplasm and the extracellular environment. Understanding how membrane proteins adopt correctly folded structures, and how those structures are perturbed by ligand binding and disease-causing mutations, requires the ability to measure the energetics of the interactions holding them together. Traditional biochemical approaches, however, are limited in biological interpretability and in what proteins can be studied.
Our lab uses precise forces applied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) to reversibly unfold and refold small segments of membrane proteins to make thermodynamically well-defined measurements of their energetics as a function of biologically relevant parameters such as ligand concentration, introduction of mutations, and lipid environment. We are interested in both (I.) learning about fundamental aspects of membrane-protein folding (such as how individual amino-acid interactions contribute to the overall energetics of folding and why proteins ultimately fold into a particular orientation or topology) and (II.) understanding how the energetics of membrane-protein folding relate to disease. For example, we are exploring the connection between folding of vasopressin receptor 2, a human G-protein coupled receptor, and nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
In addition, we are interested in furthering single-molecule experimental technology, including instrumentation, surface chemistry, and analysis methods.
Courses Taught
Introduction to Physical Chemistry (CH 3300)
Physical Chemistry II (CH 3320)
Statistical Thermodynamics (CH 8340)
Special Topics: Scanning Probe Microscopy (CH 9300)
Honors and Awards
NSF CAREER Award, 2025-2030
NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, 2021-2026
APS DBIO Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Biological Physics, 2017
NIST NRC Postdoctoral Research Associateship, 2017-2019
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2013-2016
Chair's Award, Biochemistry Program, University of Pennsylvania, 2011
Roy and Diana Vagelos Molecular Life Science Program, University of Pennsylvania, 2007-2011
