Colm Kelleher is a biophysicist who uses tools and ideas from materials science and soft matter physics to understand how cellular structures assemble and function. His work focuses in particular on mammalian oocytes (developing egg cells) and very early embryos. Kelleher teaches classes in general physics, as well as upper-level classes in materials physics, biophysics, and related topics. He is also interested in science outreach and K12 education.

Over the past century, scientists have learned an extraordinary amount about the molecular basis of life: how genetic information is stored, copied, and transmitted, and how the instructions contained in DNA are translated into molecules (proteins) that perform a variety of cellular tasks. What is still lacking, however, is a framework for understanding how this diverse set of proteins and other biomolecules work together to produce functional structures — organelles, cells, and tissues — that are orders of magnitude larger than the size of individual molecules.

In our lab, we apply these tools and ideas from soft matter physics and materials science to better understand two important systems: the meiotic spindle in mammalian oocytes (developing egg cells), and very early mammalian embryos in the process of developing their first distinct tissues. These problems, and how we approach them, are discussed in greater detail on our website, but some general principles of our approach are:

• We use microscopes to look at intact structures in living cells
• We leverage the powerful biomolecular tools that have been developed over past decades, and continue to be improved and extended today (molecular biosensors, optogenetics, etc.)
• We apply — and develop/extend where necessary — non-invasive, label-free, quantitative imaging tools (e.g. polarization microscopy)
• We apply — and develop/extend where necessary — conceptual and analytical tools from materials physics and soft matter physics
• We try to understand living structures at the “engineering schematic” level, where molecular details are “coarse-grained” away, but the essential physical properties of the collective are retained. (This is not necessarily always possible or appropriate in biological systems.)
• We look for models that quantitively predict complex biological traits or processes using physically-motivated models that contain only a small number of measurable parameters.
• We focus on problems, e.g. chromosome segregation in developing oocytes, that are both interesting from a fundamental science perspective and immediately relevant to human health.

Biophysics, materials physics, soft matter physics, cell biology, embryology, oogenesis

• Harvard Nominee – Regeneron Prize (2022)
• White Prize for Excellence in Teaching – Harvard University (2020)
• Finalist – Life Science Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019)