Eric Schopf

Bio

I am a fourth year graduate student, eighth year UCLA Bruin. I enjoy guitar, karaoke, golf, skiing, tailgating, football, and many other nouns.

I grew up and spent my childhood (10 years) in Alameda, California, before my family moved to Santiago, Chile. I spent 5 years in Chile, making friends who, thanks to Facebook, I have reconnected with and seen after many years. I also learned Spanish, traveled around the country a great deal, and had a lot of fun. Our return to the US took us to Denver, where I spent the rest of my high school days. I then was accepted to UCLA and made a triumphant return to California.

Facts: I've been to 5 continents. I have played guitar since 1997. Some have called me a modern day renaissance man. At one point I was proficient at playing the trumpet, however, it is not an instrument conducive to appartment living. The lowest golf round I've shot was an 81. The number of golf balls I have hit over the back fence at the Rancho Park driving range is much greater than the number of golf balls you get with one range token (so are the ones that I have hit over the side fences). I enjoy Mexican food (King Taco) and Mexican beers, and being in Mexico.

Education

University of California, Los Angeles
Ph. D. Mechanical Engineering, 2009 (expected)

Thesis: A Versatile Method using Rolling Circle Amplification for Genomic DNA Detection

University of California, Los Angeles
B.S. Physics, 2005

Current Research

My primary focus is sensitive DNA detection using Rolling Circle Amplification. RCA is a technique that extends a DNA molecule in size, from perhaps 30 or 50 bases in length to well over 10,000 bases in length. The purpose for using RCA is to greatly increase the signal-to-noise ratio, enabling "binary counting" of detection events due to clustering of fluorescent reporting probes. This method combined with microbeads will be applied towards our groups effort in the detection of tuberculosis DNA in solutions. I hope to be able to directly detect genomic DNA extracted from TB bacteria, without using PCR to amplify the amount of genomic DNA present. This would be a significant achievement!

I am also involved in many collaborative projects with Prof. Heather Maynard's group where we do nanoscale patterning of functionalized PEG molecules via electron beam lithography. E-beam lithography allows for not only high resolution structures in any shape, but the nature of PEG crosslinking allows it to be crosslinked to itself, allowing for layer-on-layer patterning. These functional groups can be modified to perform various tasks, from binding carbon nanotubes to attaching modified proteins. I was lucky to get involved with them (and especially grateful for her post doc, Karen Christman, who is now a professor at UCSD) as our efforts have led to three (and counting!) papers.

Work Experience

Graduate Student Researcher, Fall 2005 - Present. Prof. Chen Research Group, UCLA MAE Dept. Trained in standard clean room fabrication techniques with 2+ full years of experience at UCLA's Nanolab. Extensive experience with electron beam writing and imaging, atomic force microscopy, and traditional lithography processes. From the biochemistry side, experience with PCR, RCA, restriction enzyme digests, fluorescent/confocal microscopes, and numerous other standard biochemical techniques.

Internship at LLNL, August 2007 - March 2008. I worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in lovely Livermore, California, under the excellent supervision of Dr. Jeff Tok and Dr. Nicholas Fischer where I learned many fundamental techniques in biochemistry, including, but not limited to, Rolling Circle Amplification. I am very much indebted to them for the knowledge they shared with me!

Undergraduate Student Researcher, January 2004 - June 2005. I worked for the Particle Beam Physics Lab as an undergraduate, where I designed a LabView program to control movement of stepper motors in conjunction with a Hall probe to map the spatial variation of magnetic fields. I also gained experience with machine shop tools, learned how to handle parts going into ultra high vacuum, and assembled and tested extremely strong magnet setups used to deflect electron beams.

Teaching Experience

Lecturer, Spring 2009: I taught two lectures for the Nanoscale Fabrication, Characterization, and Biodetection Laboratory course, MAE 187/287L. One was on biomolecule/nanoparticle conjugation, the other was on Biosensing. In each section, I briefly introduced the subject matter, explained why we as engineers are interested and should know this material, and gave published examples of techniques to show how other scientists used this information for their research.

TA, Spring 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009: I have taught between one and two sections for the MAE 187/287L course each year. The sections have ranged from electron beam microscopy and electron beam lithography to Rolling Circle Amplification and Biosensing. In each section, the process/technique was explained to the students, and a protocol was given to them for accomplishing the task. We then analyzed the final results and discussed why things worked and limitations of each process.

Publications

E. Schopf, Y. Chen. "Attomole DNA detection assay via rolling circle amplification and single molecule detection." Analytical Biochemistry, In Press (2009). Link.

E. Schopf, R. Broyer, L. Tao, Y. Chen, H. Maynard. "Directed Carbon Nanotube Assembly Using a Pyrene Functionalized Polymer." Chemical Communications, 32, 4818-4820 (2009). Link. PDF copy.

K. Christman, E. Schopf, R. Broyer, R. Li, Y. Chen & H. Maynard. "Nanoscale Assembly of Multilayer Multicomponent Protein Patterns by Electron Beam Lithography." Journal of the American Chemical Society, 131 (2), 521-527 (2009). Link. PDF copy.

K. Christman, V. Vazquez-Dorbatt, E. Schopf, C. Kolodziej, R. Li, R. Broyer, Y. Chen & H. Maynard. "Nanoscale Patterns of VEGF and bFGF Using Electron Beam Lithography and a Heparin Mimicking Polymer." Journal of the American Chemical Society, 130 (49), 16585–16591 (2008). Link. PDF copy.

E. Schopf, N.O. Fischer, Y. Chen & J.B.-H. Tok. "Sensitive and Selective Viral DNA Detection Assay via Microbead-Based Rolling Circle Amplification." Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 18, 587-5874 (2008). Link. PDF copy.

S. Huang, E. Schopf & Y. Chen. "Dynamically configurable Biomolecular nanoarrays." Nano Letters, 7, 3116-3121 (2007). Link. PDF copy.

P.M. Mendes, K.L. Christman, P. Parthasarathy, E. Schopf, J. Ouyang, Y. Yang, J.A. Preece, H.D. Maynard, Y. Chen & J.F. Stoddart. "Electrochemically controllable conjugation of proteins on surfaces." Bioconjugate Chemistry, 18, 1919-1923 (2007). Link. PDF copy.

Puru Parthasarathy, Paula M. Mendes, Eric Schopf, Jon A. Preece, J. Fraser Stoddart, and Yong Chen. "Spatially Controlled Assembly of Nanomaterials at the Nanoscale." Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 8, 1-5, (2008). PDF copy.

Relevant Coursework

Undergraduate Studies

Statistical Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics
Electrodynamics
Particle Beam Physics
Solid State Physics

Graduate Studies

Microelectrical and Mechanical System (MEMS) Design
MEMS Device Physics
Microscience
Nanoscience and Technology
Material Science of Surfaces
Bionanotechnology
Molecular Biotechnology
Biopolymer Chemistry and Bioconjugates
Physics of Molecular Motors

Students Mentored

Alex Shen - Spring-Summer, 2007. (SINAM Program)

Project: Aligned nanoscale electrode fabrication via electron-beam lithography.

Micol Marchetti-Bowick - Summer, 2008. (CNSI NanoCER Program)

Project: Rolling circle amplification on selected electrodes.

David Carroll - Spring, 2009 - Present. (SINAM Program)

Project: Soft lithography molds for single microbead trapping and imaging.

Awards and Honors

CNSI 2005-2006 Graduate Student Fellowship Recipient

Conferences, Meetings, et al.

In March of 2009, I attended the US-Argentina Workshop on Nanomaterials (held in Bariloche, Argentina) with Prof. Maynard, where I had this poster on display.

In March of 2008, I attended the Pacific Southwest Regional Center of Excellence conference (held in Los Angeles) for biodefense and emerging infectious diseases research with Prof. Chen and Dr. Jeff Tok, where I had this poster on display.

Contact Information

44-116C Engineering IV
420 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Phone: 310-267-4340
Email: eschopf@ucla.edu