Research

Current Research

Currently working as a postdoctoral appointee at Argonne National Laboratory, focusing on developing techniques and pipelines for reduction and analysis of multimodal X-ray diffraction data for nano-scale structure characterization.

Research Interests

  • X-ray Physics
  • Synchrotron
  • Soft Matter Physics
  • Computational Physics
  • Self Assembly
  • Molecular Dynamics
  • Ptychography
  • Tomography
  • Coherent Phase Retrieval
  • Microscopy
  • Machine Learning
  • Imaging

Previous Research

Northwestern University (2018-2023)

Analyzed the self-assembly of lipid molecules and nano-particles using:

  • X-ray scattering experiments
  • Molecular dynamics simulations

Northwestern University (2017-2018)

Involved in the design and construction of multi-view microscope for the analysis of colloidal particles in an applied magnetic field.

Publications and Presentations

2025

The Coupling of Charge Regulation and Geometry in Soft Ionizable Molecular Assemblies (2025)

Joseph McCourt, Leticia López-Flores, Sumit Kewalramani, Noah Welke, Monica Olvera de la Cruz, Michael Bedzyk

The Journal of Physical Chemistry B (Forthcoming)

Manuscript ID: jp-2025-00162a.R1

Programming Defects and Cavities into Colloidal Crystals Engineered with DNA (2025)

Rachel Chan, Kaitlin Landy, Kyle Gibson, Sachin Kulkarni, Junjing Deng, Byeongdu Lee, Joseph McCourt, Soenke Seifert, Olivier Chevalier, Alexa Wong, Chaojian Chen, Peter Winegar, Koray Aydin, Chad Mirkin

Science Advances (Forthcoming)

Manuscript Number: adw6436

2024

PtychoSAXS: Combined X-ray ptychography and SAXS imaging for nanostructure characterization (2024)

Joseph McCourt, Junjing Deng, Byeongdu Lee, Soenke Seifert

SAS2024 – XIX International Small-Angle Scattering Conference, 4 Nov. 2024, Taipei, Taiwan. Conference Presentation

PtychoSAXS: Combined X-ray ptychography and SAXS imaging for nanostructure characterization (2024)

Joseph McCourt, Junjing Deng, Byeongdu Lee, Soenke Seifert

ACA 2024 Annual Meeting, 10 July 2024, Denver, CO. Conference Presentation

2023

Electrostatic Mechanisms for Shape Selection in Charged Chiral Molecular Assemblies (2023)

Joseph M. McCourt

Northwestern University, PhD Dissertation

DOI: 10.21985/n2-vpr8-sg35

The Coupling of Charge Regulation and Geometry in Soft Ionizable Molecular Assemblies (2023)

Joseph McCourt, Sumit Kewalramani, Leticia Lopez-Flores, Michael Bedzyk, Monica Olvera De La Cruz

ACS Spring Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, March 26-30, 2023. Conference Presentation

The Coupling of Charge Regulation and Geometry in Soft Ionizable Molecular Assemblies (2023)

Joseph McCourt, Sumit Kewalramani, L Lopez-Flores, M Bedzyk

APS March Meeting Abstracts 2023, Z14.012. Las Vegas, NV. Conference Presentation

A Zoo of Chiral Structures: Electrostatic Directed Assembly of Charged, Chiral Amphiphiles (2023)

Joseph McCourt, Sumit Kewalramani, Monica Olvera de La Cruz, Michael Bedzyk

APS March Meeting Abstracts 2023, W01.004. Las Vegas, NV. Invited Conference Presentation

2022

Electrostatic control of shape selection and nanoscale structure in chiral molecular assemblies (2022)

Joseph M. McCourt, Sumit Kewalramani, Changrui Gao, Eric W. Roth, Steven J. Weigand, Monica Olvera de la Cruz, and Michael J. Bedzyk

ACS Central Science 8 (8), 1169-1181

DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.2c00447

Electrostatic and Van der Waal Control of Charged Chiral Assemblies (2022)

Joseph McCourt, Changrui Gao, Sumit Kewalramani, Eric Roth, Steven Weigand

APS March Meeting Abstracts 2022, S16.007. Chicago, IL. Conference Presentation

2021

How Electrostatic Interactions Determine the Shape of Chiral Assemblies (2021)

Joseph McCourt, Sumit Kewalramani, Dulce Maria Valencia, Changrui Gao, Michael Bedzyk

APS March Meeting Abstracts 2021, L07.010. Virtual. Conference Presentation

2019

Electrostatic shape control of a charged molecular membrane from ribbon to scroll (2019)

Changrui Gao, Sumit Kewalramani, Dulce Maria Valencia, Honghao Li, Joseph M. McCourt, Monica Olvera de la Cruz, and Michael J. Bedzyk

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 (44), 22030-22036

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1913632116