The principal investigators will conduct research of a cross disciplinary nature, spanning both statistics and biophysics fields. They will investigate the spectra and their changes in response to variation in the conditions of a specimen in order to ascertain important information about the components of a specimen. For example, fluorescence from aromatic amino acids is a useful probe of the structure of proteins. Frequently, 'in vivo' studies and other important experiments concern a single specimen that contains multiple components with overlapping spectra, components that cannot be separated without seriously altering properties of the native specimen. The investigators will work toward three goals: the development of optimal statistical methods of resolving component spectra, development of efficient and reliable algorithms and computer codes that implement the methods developed, and application of these methods in the laboratory.
