The PI lays out a number of outstanding issues in lipid-NP interactions that he proposes to address via molecular simulations using an original mesoscale simulation technique using ?ghost tweezers? as a method to explore the energy landscape of interfacial interactions of lipid membranes with nanoparticles. If successful, the project can provide important insights for as varied fields as biomedical imaging, drug delivery, lipid-mediated synthesis of nanoparticles, and biosensing with nanoparticle-lipid bilayers systems.