Research Interests Organic, Bioorganic, and Materials Chemistry — Self-assembling networks of inorganic nanocrystals from modified cytoskeletal proteins, functionalized viral capsids for drug delivery and 3-D nanomaterial construction, and new synthetic methods for site-specific protein modification Research in the Francis group is focused on the development of new synthetic methods for the construction of nanoscale materials. The central strategy involves the attachment of new functional components to specific locations on structural proteins, and the subsequent self-assembly of these conjugates into new types of materials with useful electronic and biological functions.