Judith Herzfeld
Degrees
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D.Harvard University, M.P.P.
Columbia University, B.A.
Expertise
statistical thermodynamics; sub-atomistic force fields; simulating chemical reactions; crowding-induced order in self-assembling systems; solid state NMR; structure and function of membrane proteins.Profile
Current Major Academic Interests:1. Development of sub-atomistic force fields based on semi-classical electrons for efficient simulations of chemical reactions: emphasis on solvent dependent chemistry.
2. Innovations in chemical education: “ConcepTests” and other active learning approaches; a material evolution narrative to communicate context and scope in general chemistry; integrating classical and statistical perspectives in introductory thermodynamics.
3. Implications of advances in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying human behavior for concepts of responsibility and theories of justice and punishment.
Former Major Academic Interests:
1. Spectroscopic studies of the structure and function of membrane proteins: emphasis on solid-state NMR studies of light-driven ion transport and the amyloid-like assembly of extreme dewetting surfaces in buoyancy organelles.
2. Spectroscopic studies of polymers implicated in pre-biotic chemistry: emphasis on the spontaneous polymerization of HCN and sugars.
3. Statistical mechanical studies of self-assembly and long-range order in crowded solutions of self-assembling protein filaments and micellar surfactants: emphasis on the osmotic and rheologic consequences of hemoglobin aggregation in sickle-cell disease, and the control of cytoskeletal organization and motility in active cells.
4. Cooperativity in proteins: emphasis on the control of function in hemoglobin and multimeric enzymes. Webpage
Courses Taught
| CHEM | 141a | Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics |
| CHEM | 240b | Physical Chemistry Seminar |
| CHEM | 250b | Biophysical Chemistry Seminar |
| CHEM | 260b | Materials Chemistry Seminar |
Awards and Honors
Fellow, Massachusetts Academy of Sciences (2013)
Class of 2012 Faculty/Staff Appreciation (2012)
Class of 2007 Faculty/Staff Appreciation (2005)
Distinguished Lecturer, Sigma Xi (2003 - 2005)
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1999)
Fellow, American Physical Society (1993)
National Science Foundation Faculty Award for Women Scientists and Engineers for "significant achievements as a researcher and teacher and potential future contributions to American science" (1992)
Scholarship
Herzfeld, J, Song, X., Li J. and Li, P.. "Bending the Curve: Molecular Manifestations of Electron Anti-symmetry." ChemistryOpen 10. (2021): 1197-1201.
Herzfeld, Judith. "Floating Orbitals Reconsidered: The Difference an Imaginary Part Can Make." ACS Omega 3. (2018): 10992−10998.
Ni QZ, Can VC, Daviso E, Belenky M, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Primary transfer step in the light-driven ion pump bacteriorhodopsin: an irreversible U-turn revealed by DNP-enhanced MAS NMR." Journal of the American Chemical Society 140. 11 (2018): 4085-4091.
Bai, C. and Herzfeld, J. "Special Pairs Are Decisive in the Autoionization and Recombination of Water." Journal of Physical Chemistry B 121. (2017): 4213-4219.
Bai, C., Kale, S. and Herzfeld, J.. "Chemistry with Semi-Classical Electrons: Reaction Trajectories Auto-Generated by Sub-Atomistic Force Fields." Chemical Science 8. (2017): 4203-4210.
Bai C and Herzfeld J. "Surface Propensities of the Self-ions of Water." ACS Central Science 2. (2016): 225-231.
Ekesan S and Herzfeld J. "Magnetism and Bond Order in Diatomic Molecules Described by Semi-classical Electrons." Journal of Physical Chemistry B 120. (2016): 6264-6269.
Herzfeld, J. and Ekesan, S.. "Exchange Potentials for Semi-Classical Electrons." Phys Chem Chem Phys 18. (2016): 30748-30753.
Ekesan S and Herzfeld J. "Pointillist Rendering of Electron Charge and Spin Density Suffices to Replicate Trends in Atomic Properties." Proceedings of the Royal Society A 471. (2015): 20150370.
Ekesan S, Kale S and Herzfeld J. "Transferable Pseudo-Classical Electrons for Aufbau of Atomic Ions." Journal of Computational Chemistry 35. (2014): 1159-1164.
Herzfeld J. "Chemistry and Structure via Solid State NMR." Advances in Biological Solid-State NMR: Proteins and Membrane-Active Peptides. Ed. Frances Separovic and Akira Naito. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014. 371-386.
Herzfeld J. "Gas Vesicles." The Cell Biology of Cyanobacteria. Ed. Enrique Flores and Antonia Herrero. Norfolk, UK: Caister Academic Press, 2014. 221-232.
Daviso E, Belenky M, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Gas vesicles across kingdoms: a comparative solid state NMR stud." Journal of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology 23. (2013): 281-289.
Daviso E, Eddy MT, Andreas LB, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Efficient Resonance Assignment of Proteins in MAS NMR by Simultaneous Intra- and Inter-residue 3D Correlation Spectroscopy." Journal of Biomolecular NMR 55. (2013): 257-265.
Eddy M, Belenky M, Sivertsen AC, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Selectively Dispersed Isotope Labeling for Protein Structure Determination by Magic Angle Spinning NMR." Journal of Biomolecular NMR 57. (2013): 129-139.
Bayro MJ, Daviso E, Belenky M, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "An Amyloid Organelle: Solid State NMR Evidence for Cross-Beta Assembly of Gas Vesicles." Journal of Biological Chemistry 287. 5 (2012): 3479-3484.
Eddy M, Ruben D, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Deterministic schedules for robust and reproducible non-uniform sampling in multidimensional NMR." Journal of Magnetic Resonance 214. (2012): 396-201.
Kale S and Herzfeld J. "Natural polarizability and flexibility via explicit valency: the case of water." Journal of Chemical Physics 136. 8 (2012): 084109.
Kale S and Herzfeld J. "Proton Defect Solvation and Dynamics in Aqueous Acid and Base." Angewandte Chemie International Edition 51. (2012): 11029-11032.
Herzfeld J, Rand D, Matsuki Y, Mak-Jurkauskas M, Daviso E and Mamajanov I. "Molecular Structure of Humin and Melanoidin via Solid State NMR." Journal of Physical Chemistry B 115. 19 (2011): 5741-5745.
Kale S and Herzfeld J. "Pairwise Long-Range Compensation for Strongly Ionic Systems." Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation 7. 11 (2011): 3620-3624.
Kale S, Herzfeld J, Dai S and Blank M. "Lewis-Inspired Representation of Dissociable Water in Clusters and Grotthuss Chains." Journal of Biological Physics 38. (2011): 49-60.
Mamajanov I and Herzfeld J. "Hydrogen Cyanide Polymer." Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. 2011.
Rand D, Belenky M and Herzfeld J. "Microspherules from Sugars in the Absence of Nitrogen." Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 41. (2011): 17-22.
Matsuki Y, Eddy MT, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Rapid 3D MAS NMR at Critical Sensitivity." Angewandte Chemie International Edition 49. (2010): 9215-9218.
Sivertsen AC, Bayro MJ, Belenky M, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Solid-State NMR Characterization of Gas Vesicle Structure." Biophysical Journal 99. (2010): 1932-1939.
Bajaj VS, Mak-Jurkauskas ML, Belenky M, Herzfeld J, Griffin RG. "Functional and Shunt States of Bacteriorhodopsin Resolved by 3D DNP-Enhanced SSNMR." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 106. (2009): 9244-9249.
Majanov I and Herzfeld J. "HCN Polymers Characterized by SSNMR: Chains and Sheets Formed in the Neat Liquid." Journal of Chemical Physics 130. (2009): 134503.
Majanov I and Herzfeld J. "HCN Polymers Characterized by SSNMR: Solid State Reaction of Crystalline Tetramer (diaminomaleonitrile)." Journal of Chemical Physics 130. (2009): 134504.
Matsuki Y, Eddy MT and Herzfeld J. "Spectroscopy by Integration of Frequency and Time Domain Information (SIFT) for Fast Acquisition of High Resolution Dark Spectra." Journal of the American Chemical Society 131. (2009): 4648-4656.
Sivertsen AC, Bayro MJ, Belenky M, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Solid-state NMR evidence for inequivalent GvpA subunits in gas vesicles.." Journal of Molecular Biology 387. (2009): 1032-1039.
Mak-Jurkauskas ML, Bajaj VS, Hornstein MK, Belenky M, Griffin RG and Herzfeld J. "Energy transformations early in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle revealed by DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 105. (2008): 883-888.