Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Biography

2022-present

Chair, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame

2019-2022

Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Studies and Faculty Development, University of Notre Dame

2017-present

Professor, University of Notre Dame

2011-present

Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame

2005-2011

Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame

2002-2005

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Wisconsin

2001

Ph.D. in Chemistry, Yale University

1997

Sc.B. in Chemistry, Brown University

Selected Awards

2020

Thomas P. Madden Award

2019, 2012

Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

2016

Fellow, American Chemical Society

2015

Director of Graduate Studies, University of Notre Dame

2011

Kavli Fellow, National Academies of Science and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

2009

Sloan Research Fellowship

2009

NSF CAREER Award

2005

Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award

2003-2005

Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award

Research Interests

Aqueous acids, bases, and salts. Aqueous solutions containing acids, bases, and salts play an important role in many chemical, biological, and environmental processes. The Corcelli lab uses simulations to reveal the structure, dynamics, and transport of ions in aqueous electrolytes with atomistic resolution. In particular, this project aims to achieve a detailed molecular-level understanding of the role of counterions, ion-pairing, and solvent-shared ion pairs on the mobility of ions in solution, which is especially relevant to emerging battery technologies using aqueous electrolytes. State-of-the-art calculations of infrared spectra validate the simulations and uncover the spectroscopic signatures of structural and dynamical motifs in aqueous acids, bases, and salts.

Biomolecular binding. The interactions of proteins with other proteins and the binding of proteins and RNA to DNA are essential to biological function. Moreover, the binding of small molecules to biomolecules forms the basis of many pharmacological interventions. However, the detailed molecular mechanism for these critical interactions and binding processes is not well understood. Leveraging graphics processor unit (GPU) acceleration and advanced sampling algorithms like the weighted ensemble method, the Corcelli lab is using atomistic simulations with explicit solvent to investigate the mechanism of drug complexation to DNA and the binding of a T cell receptor (TCR) protein to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These studies are elucidating the mechanism of biomolecular binding with unprecedented detail.

Recent Publications

• Hanson, M. D.; Readnour, J. A.; Hassanali, A. A. and Corcelli, S. A. "Coupled Local-Mode Approach for the Calculation of Vibrational Spectra: Application to Protonated Water Clusters" 2021 Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 12 (38), pp.9226-9232. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02254.
• Drexler, C. I.; Cracchiolo, O. M.; Myers, R. L.; Okur, H. I.; Serrano, A. L.; Corcelli, S. A. and Cremer, P. S. "Local Electric Fields in Aqueous Electrolytes" 2021 Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 125 (30), pp.8484-8493. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c03257.
• Hodge, S. R.; Corcelli, S. A. and Berg, M. A. "Nonlinear Measurements of Kinetics and Generalized Dynamical Modes. II. Application to a Simulation of Solvation Dynamics in an Ionic Liquid" 2021 Journal of Chemical Physics, 155 (2), 024123. DOI: 10.1063/5.0053424.
• de Oliveira, D. M.; Bredt, A. J.; Miller, T. C.; Corcelli, S. A. and Ben-Amotz, D. "Spectroscopic and Structural Characterization of Water-Shared Ion-Pairs in Aqueous Sodium and Lithium Hydroxide" 2021 Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 125 (5), pp.1439-1446. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c10564.
• Zhang, X. X.; Brantley, S. L.; Corcelli, S. A. and Tokmakoff, A. "DNA Minor-Groove Binder Hoechst 33258 Destabilizes Base-Pairing Adjacent to its Binding Site" 2020 Communications Biology, 3 (1), 525. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01241-4.
• Baiz, C. R.; Blasiak, B.; Bredenbeck, J.; Cho, M.; Choi, J. H.; Corcelli, S. A.; Dijkstra, A. G.; Feng, C. J.; Garrett-Roe, S.; Ge, N. H.; Hanson-Heine, M.; Hirst, J. D.; Jansen, T.; Kwac, K.; Kubarych, K. J.; Londergan, C. H.; Maekawa, H.; Reppert, M.; Saito, S.; Roy, S.; Skinner, J. L.; Stock, G.; Straub, J. E.; Thielges, M. C.; Tominaga, K.; Tokmakoff, A.; Torii, H.; Wang, L.; Webb, L. J. and Zanni, M. T. "Vibrational Spectroscopic Map, Vibrational Spectroscopy, and Intermolecular Interaction" 2020 Chemical Reviews, 120 (15), pp.7152-7218. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00758.