Ahmed A. Heikal

Biographical Sketch

Professional Preparation

  • Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
    Physics, BS, 1980
  • Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
    Physics, MS, 1986
  • California Institute of Technology
    Applied Physics
    Ph.D. 1995
  • California Institute of Technology/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    Research Fellow, Chemistry
    1995-1997
  • Cornell University, Ithaca NY
    Postdoctoral Fellow, Biophysics
    1997-2000
  • Cornell University, Ithaca NY
    Research Associate, Biophysics
    2000-2003

Appointments

  • Associate Professor: August 2003 - Present
    Department of Bioengineering, Pennsylvania State University
  • Research Associate: October 2000 - August 2003
    School of Applied & Engineering Physics, Cornell University
    (Advisor: Prof. Watt Webb)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow: October 1997 - August 2000
    School of Applied & Engineering Physics, Cornell University
    (Advisor: Prof. Watt Webb)
  • Research Fellow: September 1995 - October 1997
    Department of Chemistry, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
    (Advisors: Profs. Joseph Perry and Seth Marder)
  • Graduate Research Assistant: October 1988 - August 1995
    Department of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology,
    (Advisor: Prof. Ahmed Zewail; The Nobel Laureate of Chemistry in 1999)
  • Graduate Research Assistant: September 1984 - April 1986
    Department of Physics, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt,
    (Advisor: Prof. Mahmoud Khashan; Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt)

Professional Association

  • The Biophysical Society (member)
  • American Society for Cell Biology (member)
  • American Physical Society (member)
  • Optical Society of America (member)
  • SPIE (member)

Synergictic Activities

  • Serving as a referee for scientific journals that include Biophysical Journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Chemical Physics Letters, Optics Letter, Optics Express, and Laser Surgery.
  • Developed and taught a graduate course on Advances in Biophotonics for life sciences applications.
  • Developed and taught an undergraduate course (BIOE 423) on Chemical Kinetics and Transport Phenomena.
  • Served on Graduate Admission committee and other committees for developing new candidacy exams and BIOE curriculum in Bioengineering and enhancing the shared facilities across the Pennsylvania State University.
  • Organizing and chairing a session on Cancer at the CrossOver 2005 (PSU, October 2005).
  • Chairing a session on Protein Dynamics and Photobiology at the Femtochemistry VII conference (Washington DC, July 17-21, 2005).

Other Affiliations

  • The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (PSU)
  • Integrative Biosciences/Graduate Degree Program (IBIOS/PSU): Cell and Developmental Biology, and Chemical Biology.

Peer-reviewed Publications

Vishwasrao, H.D., A.A. Heikal, K.A. Kasischke and W.W. Webb. 2005. Conformational dependence of intracellular NADH on metabolic state revealed by associated fluorescence anisotropy. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 208(26):25119-252126. Paper of the Week and Issue Cover

Hess, S.T., A.A. Heikal, and W.W. Webb. 2004. Fluorescence photoconversion kinetics in novel green fluorescent protein pH sensors (pHluorins). Journal of Physical Chemistry (B), 108(28):10138-10148. Issue Cover.

Korlach, J., D. Baird, A.A. Heikal, K.R. Gee, G.R. Hoffman, and W.W. Webb. 2004. Spontaneous nucleotide exchange in low molecular weight GTPases by fluorescently labeled gamma-phosphate linked GTP analogs. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 101(9):2800-2805.

Hess, S.T., E.D. Sheets, A. Wagenknecht-Wiesner, and A.A. Heikal. 2003. Quantitative analysis of the fluorescence properties of intrinsically fluorescent proteins in living cells. Biophysical Journal, 85:2566–2580.

Huang, S., A.A. Heikal, and W.W. Webb. 2002. Two-photon fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy on NAD(P)H and flavoprotein. Biophys. J.,82(5):2811-2825.

Hess, S.T., S. Huang, A.A. Heikal, and W.W. Webb. 2002. Biological and chemical applications of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy: a review. Biochem., 41(3):697-705.

Heikal, A.A., S.T. Hess, and W.W. Webb. 2001. Multiphoton spectroscopy and excited state dynamics of enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP): acid-base specificity. Chem. Phys., 274(1):37-55.

Heikal, A.A., S.T. Hess, G.S. Baird, R.Y. Tsien, and W.W. Webb. 2000. Molecular spectroscopy and dynamics of intrinsically fluorescent proteins: coral red (dsRed) and yellow (Citrine). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 97(22):11996-12001.

Schwille, P., S. Kummer, A.A. Heikal, W.E. Moerner, and W.W. Webb. 2000. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy reveals fast optical excitation-driven intramolecular dynamics of yellow fluorescent proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 97(1):151-156.

Kuebler, S.M., M. Rumi, T. Watanabe, K. Braun, B.H. Cumpston, A.A. Heikal, L.L. Erskine, S. Thayumanavan, S. Barlow, S.R. Marder, J.W. Perry. 2001. Optimizing two-photon initiators and exposure conditions for three-dimensional lithographic microfabrication. J. Photopoly. Sci. Tech., 14(4):657-668.

Rumi, M., J.E. Ehrlich, A.A. Heikal, J.W. Perry, S. Barlow, Z. Hu, D. McCord-Maughon, T.C. Parker, H. Roeckel, S. Thayumanavan, S.R. Marder, D. Beljonne, and J.-L. Bredas. 2000. Structure-property relationships for two-photon absorbing chromophores: bis-donor diphenylpolyene and bis(styryl)benzene derivatives. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 122(39):9500-9510.

Cumpston, B.H., S.P. Ananthavel, S. Barlow, D.L. Dyer, J.E. Ehrlich, L.L. Erskine, A.A. Heikal, S.M. Kuebler, I.-Y.S. Lee, D. McCord-Maughon, J. Qin, H. Rockel, M. Rumi, X.-L. Wu, S.R. Marder, and J.W. Perry. 1999. Two-photon polymerization initiators for three-dimensional optical data storage and microfabrication. Nature (London), 398(6722):51-54.

Albota, M., D. Beljonne, J.-L. Bredas, J.E. Ehrlich, J-Y. Fu, A.A. Heikal, S.T. Hess, T. Kogej, M.D. Levin, S.R. Marder, D. McCord-Maughon, J.W. Perry, H. Rockel, M. Rumi, G. Subramaniam, W.W. Webb, X.-L. Wu, and C. Xu. 1998. Design of organic molecules with large two-photon absorption cross sections. Science, 281(5383):1653-1656.

Heikal, A.A., J.S. Baskin, L. Banares, and A.H. Zewail. 1997. Structural effects on the isomerization dynamics of trans-stilbenes: IVR, microcanonical reaction rates, and the nature of the transition state. J. Phys. Chem. A, 101(4):572-590.

Heikal, A.A., S.H. Chong, J.S. Baskin, and A.H. Zewail. 1995. Microscopic friction and solvation in barrier crossing: isomerization of stilbene in size-selected hexane clusters, Chem. Phys. Lett., 242(4,5):380-389.

Kim, S.K., J.J. Breen, D.M. Willberg, L.W. Peng, A.A. Heikal, J.A. Syage, and A.H. Zewail. 1995. Solvation ultrafast dynamics of reactions. 8. Acid-base reactions in finite-sized clusters of naphthol in ammonia, water, and piperidine. J. Phys. Chem., 99(19):7421-7435.

Lienau, C., A.A. Heikal, and A.H. Zewail. 1993. Picosecond dynamics of hexane-solvated trans-stilbene. Chem. Phys, 175(1):171-191.

Banares, L., A.A. Heikal, and A.H. Zewail. 1992. Ultrafast dynamics of isomerization reactions: structural effects in stilbene(s). J. Phys. Chem., 96(11):4127-4130.

Heikal, A.A., L. Banares, D.H. Semmes, and A.H. Zewail. 1991. Real-time dynamics of vibrational predissociation in anthracene-argonn (n = 1, 2, 3). Chem. Phys, 156(2):231-250.

Breen, J.J., L.W. Peng, D.M. Willberg, A.A. Heikal, P. Cong, and A.H. Zewail. 1990. Real-time probing of reactions in clusters. J. Chem. Phys, 92(1):805-807.

Book Chapters

Cumpston, B.H., S.P. Ananthavel, S. Barlow, D.L. Dyer, J.E. Ehrlich, L.L. Erskine, A.A. Heikal, S.M. Kuebler, I.-Y.S. Lee, D. McCord-Maughon, J. Qin, H. Rockel, M. Rumi, X.-L. Wu, S.R. Marder, and J.W. Perry. 2003. Two-photon polymerization initiators for three-dimensional optical data storage and microfabrication. Multiphoton Excitation Microscopy, Editors: B.J. Thompson, SPIE Optical Engineering Press, 175:212-215.

Albota, M., D. Beljonne, J.-L. Bredas, J.E. Ehrlich, J.-Y. Fu, A.A. Heikal, S.E. Hess, T. Kogej, M.D. Levin, S.R. Marder, D. McCord-Maughon, J.W. Perry, H. Rocket, M. Rumi, G. Subramaniam, W.W. Webb, X.-L. Wu, C. Xu. 2003. Design of organic molecules with large two-photon absorption cross sections. Multiphoton Excitation Microscopy, Editors: B.J. Thompson, SPIE Optical Engineering Press, 175:507-510.

Heikal, A.A., S.T. Hess, E.D. Sheets, and W.W. Webb. 2002. Mutation-photophysics relationship in intrinsically fluorescent proteins. Femtochemistry and Femtobiology: Ultrafast Dynamics in Molecular Science, Editors: A. Douhal and J. Santamaria,World Scientific, Singapore, pp 774-781.

Published Papers in Non-Refereed Journal/Proceedings

Walvick, R.P., D.J. Mudaliar, and A.A. Heikal. 2005. Quantitative analysis of biomolecular concentration in living cells with high spatial resolution. IEEE, pp 37.

Heikal, A.A. and W.W. Webb. 2002. Multiphoton fluorescence microscopy for functional imaging of biomolecules. Trends in Optics and Photonics, 79 (Nonlinear Optics), 321-323.

Invited Talks

Heikal, A.A. Quantitative analysis of energy metabolism using intrinsic biomolecules. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maine University, November 12, 2005. Invited Speaker.

Heikal, A.A. Biophotonics for Cellular Function & Disease Diagnosis: A Nonlinear Perspective. Lehigh University, Center of Optical Technology, May 26, 2005. Invited Speaker.

Heikal, A.A. 2005. Nanoscale Functional Imaging of Mitochondria in Living Cells. Department of Biology, Penn State University, April 26, 2005, Invited Speaker.

Heikal, A.A. 2005. Nonlinear Molecular Dynamics for Monitoring Lipid Domains in Biomembranes. Department of Electrical Engineering, Penn State University, April 21, 2005, Invited Speaker.

Heikal, A.A. 2005. Monitoring Metabolic Activities in Living Cells Using Native Biomolecules. Department of Biochemical and Molecular Biology, Penn State University, April 04, 2005, Invited Speaker

Heikal, A.A. and W.W. Webb “Dynamics of biophysical processes studied with multiphoton microscopy”, The 7th International Conference on Near-field Optics and Related Techniques, (Rochester, NY, August 11, 2002), invited talk.

Heikal, A.A. and W.W. Webb “Multiphoton fluorescence microscopy for functional imaging of biomolecules”, Nonlinear Optics: Materials, Fundamentals and Applications, (Wailea, Maui, HI, July 29, 2002), invited talk.

Heikal, A.A. and W.W. Webb. “Multiphoton fluorescence microscopy in biology”, SPIE Conference on Nonlinear Spectroscopy, (Seattle, WA, July 7, 2002), invited talk.

Heikal, A.A. and W.W. Webb “Two-photon fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamics and imaging”, PITTCON 2001, Nonlinear Chemical and Imaging Microscopy Symposium (New Orleans, LA, March 4, 2001), invited talk.

Heikal, A.A. “Multiphoton fluorescence spectroscopy and dynamics of selected biomolecules”, Ultrafast Technology and Advanced Microscopy applications to Intracellular and Biomolecular Dynamics (Cargese, Corsica, France, March 25, 2001), invited talk.

Representative Published Abstracts

Mudaliar, D.J., R.P. Walvick, A.A. Heikal. 2005. Short-range dynamics of lipid domains in model biomembranes. The American Society for Cell Biology Conference, San Francisco, CA, December 10-14.

Walvick, R.P. and A.A. Heikal. 2005. Quantitative analysis of energy metabolism pathways in breast cancer cells using native NAD(P)H. The American Society for Cell Biology Conference, San Francisco, CA, December 10-14.

Walvick, R.P., D.J. Mudaliar, and A.A. Heikal. 2005. Accurate estimate of biomolecular concentration in living cells as high spatial resolution. The International Biophysics Congress, Montpellier, France, August 26-September 1.

Mudaliar, D.J., R.P. Walvick, and A.A. Heikal. 2005. Lipid-phase specificity of rotational diffusion and molecular orientation in biomembranes. The International Biophysics Congress, Montpellier, France, August 26-September 1.

Walvick, R.P., D.J. Mudaliar, and A.A. Heikal. 2005. Quantitative analysis of biomolecular concentration in living cells with high spatial resolution. The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the 31st Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Hoboken, NJ, April 1-5.

Kim, H.-R., R.P. Walvick, W.M. Rivera, Y. Liu, and A.A. Heikal. 2005. Rotational complexity of enzyme-cofactor binding under equilibrium conditions. Femtochemistry VII Conference, Washington, DC, July 17-22.

Mudaliar, D.J., R.P. Walvick, A.A. Heikal. 2005. Lipid-order fluctuation in model membranes at high spatio-temporal resolution. The 49th-Biophysical Society Meeting, Long Beach, CA, February 12-16.

Zhang, Y., D.J. Mudaliar, A.A. Heikal, W.O. Hancock. 2005. Microtubule-binding affinity and structural studies of EGFP-tagged KIF3A/B motors. The 49th-Biophysical Society Meeting, Long Beach, CA, February 12-16.

Mudaliar, D.J., R.P. Walvick, and A.A. Heikal. 2004. Real time monitoring of lipid order fluctuations in model membranes wit high spatial and temporal resolution. Cross Over 2004 Conference, PSU, October 13-14.

Heikal, A., J. Korlach, D.W. Baird, G.R. Hoffmann, K. Gee, R.A. Cerione, W.W. Webb. 2004. Structural aspects of g-phosphate tagged GTP analogs for G proteins studies. 50th Anniversary Meeting of the Gordon Conference on Isotopes in Biological and Chemical Sciences, Ventura, CA, February 15-20.

Heikal, A.A., H. Vishwasrao, K.A. Kasischke, and W.W. Webb. 2003. Conformational changes of native NADH associated with neural energy metabolism in hippocampal slices. 43rd Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, San Francisco, CA, Dec 13-17.

Sheets, E.D., S.T. Hess, A. Wagenknecht-Wiesner, and A.A. Heikal. 2003. Quantitative analysis of the rotational flexibility of Lyn-B protein in living mast cells. 43rd Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, San Francisco, CA, Dec 13-17.

Korlach, J., B. Baird, A.A. Heikal, K.R. Gee, G.R. Hoffman, and W.W. Webb. 2003. Spontaneous nucleotide exchange of fluorescently labeled gamm-phosphate linked GTP analogs in low molecular weight GTPases. 43rd Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, San Francisco, CA, Dec 13-17.

Vishwasrao, H.D., A.A. Heikal, K.A. Kasischke, and W.W. Webb. 2003. Two-photon time and wavelength resolved spectroscopy probes conformational changes of intrinsic NADH associated with neural energy metabolism. 33rd Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA, November 8-12.

Kasischke, K.A., H.D. Vishwasrao, P.J. Fisher, A.A. Heikal, W.R. Zipfel, and W.W. Webb. 2003. Two-photon NADH imaging resolves functions of astrocytes and neurons in metabolic recovery during focal neural activity. 33rd Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience, New Orleans, LA, November 8-12.

Heikal, A.A., H. Vishwasrao, K. Kasischke, and W.W.Webb. 2003. Metabolic activity effects on the excited state dynamics of native NADH in brain slices. Frontiers in Optics and Laser Sciences XIXM Meeting, Tucson, AZ, October 5-9.

K. Kasischke; H. Vishwasrao; A.A. Heikal; W.W. Webb; “Two-photon redox fluorimetry: a new functional imaging technique for visualizing of energy metabolism in brain tissue”, Biophys. J. (2002), 82, 495a.

A.A. Heikal; S.T. Hess; E.D. Sheets; K. Kasischke; W.W.Webb; “In-vivo photophysical characterization of intrinsically fluorescent markers for functional imaging in biology”, Biophys. J. (2002), 82, 433a.

H. Vishwasrao; A.A. Heikal; K. Kasischke; W.W.Webb; “Probing cellular redox state with time resolved multiphoton spectroscopy”, Biophys. J. (2002), 82, 436a.

S.T. Hess; A.A. Heikal; W.W.Webb; “Effects of mutations on photophysics of intrinsically fluorescent proteins”, Biophys. J. (2002), 82, 429a.

A.A. Heikal; S. Huang; M. Halik; S.R. Marder; W. Wenseleers; J.W. Perry; W.W. Webb; “Newly designed two-photon fluorescence markers for biological applications”, Biophys. J. (2002), 82, 493a.

A.A. Heikal; S.T. Hess; E.D. Sheets; W.W. Webb; “Color carnival by marine life: understanding the molecular dynamics and spectroscopy of intrinsically fluorescent proteins”, Vth Femtochemistry Conference, (Toledo, Spain, September 2, 2001).

A.A. Heikal; S. Huang; M. Halik; S.R. Marder; W. Wenseleers; J.W. Perry; W.W. Webb; “Fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamics and imaging of designed two-photon fluorescent markers in Triton X-100 micelles and RBLcells”, Opto Northeast and Imaging 2001: Biomedical Optics and Imaging Session (Rochester, NY, April 10, 2001).

A.A. Heikal; J. Korlach; W.W. Webb; “Time-resolved fluorescence and anisotropy of free and DNA-bound fluorescently labeled nucleotides”, Biophys. J. (2001), 80(1), A8 Platform.

S.T. Hess; A.A. Heikal; W.W. Webb; “Advantageous molecular photophysical fluorescence properties of DsRed and Citrine”, Biophys. J. (2001), 80(1), A7 Platform.

A.A. Heikal; J. Korlach; W.W. Webb; “Time-resolved fluorescence and anisotropy of free and DNA-bound fluorescently labeled nucleotides”, Abstr. Pap. - Am. Chem. Soc. (2000), 220th PHYS-533.

A.A. Heikal; S.T. Hess; W.W. Webb; “Comparative ultrafast molecular dynamics of selected green fluorescent proteins”, Abstr. Pap. - Am. Chem. Soc. (2000), 220th PHYS-244.

S.T. Hess; A.A. Heikal; W.W. Webb; “Comparative single molecule photophysics of green fluorescent proteins: mutation effects”, The 6th International Workshop on Single Molecule Detection and Ultrasensitive Analysis of Life Sciences (Berlin-Adlershof, Germany, September 27, 2000), Platform.

A.A. Heikal; S.T. Hess; P. Schwille; W.W. Webb; “Ultrafast molecular dynamics of selected green fluorescent protein mutants”, Biophys. J. (2000), 78(1), A752 Poster.

S.T. Hess; A.A. Heikal; W. W. Webb; “Reversible light-induced proton transfer reaction in ecliptic green fluorescent protein”, Biophys. J. (2000), 78(1), A751 Poster.

S. Huang; A.A. Heikal; W.W. Webb; “Multiphoton fluorescence spectroscopy of LipDH, FAD, and NAD(P)H”, Biophys. J. (2000),78(1), A2611 Poster.

S. Huang; A.A. Heikal; W.W. Webb; “Multiphoton spectroscopy and microscopy of NAD(P)H and flavin fluorescence”, Mol. Biol. Cell (2000), 11, 126a.

A.A. Heikal; P. Schwille; S.T. Hess; W. W. Webb; “Fluorescence spectroscopy of green fluorescent protein mutant (EGFP) as a function of pH”, Biophys. J. (1999), 76(1), A446 Poster.

A.A. Heikal; W.W. Webb; “One- and two-photon time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy of fluorescent markers: photobleaching, triplet- and singlet-state dynamics”, Biophys. J. (1999), 76(1), A260 Platform.

 

Penn State Home | Department of Bioengineering | Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences