Research interests: characterization and modeling of polymers; colloidal particles and chain folding using fluorescence
Biography
Professor Jean Duhamel is well recognized for his expertise at applying fluorescence techniques to characterize synthetic or biological macromolecules and their supramolecular assemblies at the nanoscale. DNA, peptides, polypeptides, dendrimers, or polymeric surfactants are examples of the types of macromolecules which are being currently studied in this laboratory.
After graduating with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Industries Chimiques (National School for the Chemical Industry, Nancy, France), Duhamel obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 1989 at the Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine (National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine, Nancy, France) under the supervision of Professor Jean-Claude Andre where he learned about the fundamentals of steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence. From 1990 to 1993, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Profesor M. A. Winnik at the University of Toronto (Canada) where he learned about how to apply his knowledge of fluorescence to study polymers in solution. In 1993, Duhamel moved to the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA) as a post-doctoral fellow under the supervision of Professor P. Lu who taught him how to apply fluorescence to characterize oligonucleotides in solution. In 1996, he was hired as an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo where he moved through the ranks until he became full professor in 2007. He currently holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair, he is a Professional Engineer and the Director for the Institute of Polymer Research. He has published over 70 articles in referred journals.
Education
- PhD, Chemical Engineering, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, 1989
