Marcus Cicerone

Professor

School of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Email: mcicerone3@gatech.edu

Website: research.gatech.edu/people/marcus-cicerone

Google Scholar

Keywords: spectroscopic imaging, mRNA stability & delivery, liquid dynamics

Degrees:

  • PhD in Physical Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bio

Marcus Cicerone is a professor of Chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining GT, he spent three years in industry (Johnson & Johnson Clinical Diagnostics), and 18 years in government research (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Cicerone’s research has two areas of concentration: coherent Raman imaging, and dynamics of amorphous systems. He has published approximately 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers that have been cited > 9300 times.​ In 2004, Dr. Cicerone’s group introduced broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (BCARS) microscopy, which generates label-free chemical maps of cells and tissues with at 300 nm spatial resolution, and full Raman spectra at each pixel, acquired ~1000X faster than possible with spontaneous Raman scattering. His group continues to apply this microscopy to solve biological problems where conventional imaging techniques cannot provide image contrast for key agents. His group recently showed evidence for equivalence between BCARS and a 6000-gene transcriptomic activity profile for functional discrimination of cells and tissues.​ ​ Dr. Cicerone’s work in the dynamics of amorphous and glassy systems includes fundamental studies of liquid relaxation dynamics and their application to stabilizing biomolecules in a dry state without refrigeration for therapeutic and diagnostic use. In 2004, He and his colleagues used neutron scattering to introduce the idea that picosecond timescale dynamics ultimately control the degradation rates of biopolymers in sugar-based glasses. Using technology based on these insights, his group recently showed that they can stabilize mRNA at 40oC for more than 90 days without loss of subsequent transfection efficiency. His fundamental liquid dynamics work uses neutron scattering simulation, and optical pump-probe methods to investigate collective relaxation in liquids and glass. ​

Honors & Awards

  • 1989 Spectrochimica Acta Atomic Spectroscopy Award - Honorable Mention​
  • 1992 Department of Education Predoctoral Fellow​
  • 1993 IBM Polymer Science & Technology Predoctoral Fellow​
  • 1998 J&J Corporate Office of Research Directors Research Fellowship​
  • 2008 Department of Commerce Bronze Award​
  • 2012 Department of Commerce Bronze Award​
  • 2014 AAPS Innovation in Biotechnology Award (with Ken Qian)​
  • 2014 BioPhotonics Magazine Top 10 Innovations of 2014​
  • 2015 The Washington Academy of Sciences Physical & Biological Sciences Award​
  • 2016 Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society​
  • 2017 Arthur S. Flemming Award​
  • 2023 NIST Accolade