Warren S. Warren

James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Chemistry

Our work focuses on the design and application of what might best be called novel pulsed techniques, using controlled radiation fields to alter dynamics. The heart of the work is chemical physics, and most of what we do is ultrafast laser spectroscopy or nuclear magnetic resonance. It generally involves an intimate mixture of theory and experiment: recent publications are roughly an equal mix of pencil- and-paper theory, computer calculations with our workstations, and experiments. Collaborations also play an important role, particularly for medical applications.

Appointments and Affiliations

• James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
• Professor of Chemistry
• Professor of Biomedical Engineering
• Professor of Radiology
• Professor of Physics
• Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Contact Information

• Office Location: 2217 French Science Center, Durham, NC 27708
• Office Phone: +1 919 660 1604
• Email Address: warren.warren@duke.edu
• Websites:
  • Warren Research Group

Education

• Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1980
• M.S. University of California, Berkeley, 1979

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• Raymond Andrew Prize (mentor). Ampere Society. 2022
• Gunther Laukien Prize. Experimental NMR Conference. 2020
• Liversedge Medal. Royal Society of Chemistry. 2017
• Deputy Editor (Physics). Science Advances. 2017
• Mees Medal. Optical Society of America. 2015
• Chair, Fellowship Committee. International Society for Magnetic Resonance. 2014
• Fellow. Optical Society of America. 2013
• Executive Committee and Program Committee. International Society for Magnetic Resonance. 2013
• Elected Fellow. International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). 2013
• Elected Fellow. Optical Society of America. 2012
• Herbert P. Broida Prize. American Physical Society. 2011
• Chair, Division of Laser Science. American Physical Society. 2010
• Laserfest Technical Advisory Committee. Joint APS/OSA/SPIE/IEEE. 2008
• Fellow (Inaugural Class). International Society for Magnetic Resonance. 2008
• Award for Outstanding Achievements in Magnetic Resonance. Eastern Analytical Symposium. 2008
• Program Co-Chair. Imaging in 2020. 2007
• AAAS Fellow. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2004
• Chairman. Experimental NMR Conference. 2004
• Executive Committee. Experimental NMR Conference. 2004
• Elected Fellow. AAAS. 2003
• Outstanding Academic Book, Choice Magazine. American Library Association. 2000
• Chairman, Princeton Section. American Chemical Society. 2000
• Chairman, Princeton Section. American Chemical Society. 1999
• Innovation Award in Neuroscience (Inaugural Year). McKnight Foundation. 1999
• Executive Committee. Experimental NMR Conference. 1998
• Elected Fellow. American Physical Society. 1998
• Outstanding Academic Book, Choice Magazine. American Library Association. 1994
• Chairman, Princeton Section. American Chemical Society. 1990
• Fellow. Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. 1986
• Charter Member, Defense Science Study Group. Institute for Defense Analyses. 1985
• Young Faculty Grant. Dreyfus Foundation. 1982
• Nobel Laureate Signature Award. American Chemical Society. 1982
• Postdoctoral Fellow. National Science Foundation. 1981
• Graduate Fellow. National Science Foundation. 1977
• Harvard National Scholar. Harvard University. 1974

Courses Taught

• PHYSICS 590: Selected Topics in Theoretical Physics
• PHYSICS 493: Research Independent Study
• CHEM 494: Research Independent Study
• CHEM 493: Research Independent Study
• CHEM 394: Research Independent Study
• CHEM 393: Research Independent Study
• CHEM 210D: Modern Applications of Chemical Principles
• BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
• BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)

In the News

• Duke Professor Warren Warren Wins Award for Magnetic Resonance (Mar 2, 2020)
• Warren S. Warren Wins Optical Society Award (Aug 17, 2018)
• MRI Tags Stick to Molecules with Chemical Velcro (Mar 13, 2018 | Duke Research Blog)
• The Optical Society Recognizes Duke Professor Warren S. Warren (Feb 9, 2018)
• Duke Professor Honored by Royal Society of Chemistry (May 9, 2017)
• New class of molecular 'lightbulbs' illuminate MRI (Mar 28, 2016 | Science Daily)
• New Class of Molecular ‘Lightbulbs’ Illuminate MRI (Mar 23, 2016)
• A New Way of Looking at Melanomas and Renaissance Paintings (May 5, 2015)
• Duke chemist develops 3-D imaging process to examine paintings (Feb 3, 2014 | The News & Observer)
• Laser looks under the surface of art (Jan 23, 2014 | Nature)
• Shooting Lasers at Priceless Art (Jan 22, 2014)
• Art under a new wavelength (Oct 18, 2013 | UNC-TV’s “North Carolina Science Now”)
• Duke discovers that laser can be used to examine art without causing damage (Jul 5, 2013 | Washington Post/AP)

Representative Publications

• Yu, J; Li, Z; Kolodziej, C; Kuyuldar, S; Warren, WS; Burda, C; Fischer, MC, Visualizing the impact of chloride addition on the microscopic carrier dynamics of MAPbI3 thin films using femtosecond transient absorption microscopy, The Journal of Chemical Physics, vol 151 no. 23 (2019) [10.1063/1.5127875] [abs].
• Lindale, JR; Tanner, CPN; Eriksson, SL; Warren, WS, Decoupled LIGHT-SABRE variants allow hyperpolarization of asymmetric SABRE systems at an arbitrary field., Journal of magnetic resonance (San Diego, Calif. : 1997), vol 307 (2019) [10.1016/j.jmr.2019.106577] [abs].
• Tanner, CPN; Lindale, JR; Eriksson, SL; Zhou, Z; Colell, JFP; Theis, T; Warren, WS, Selective hyperpolarization of heteronuclear singlet states via pulsed microtesla SABRE., The Journal of chemical physics, vol 151 no. 4 (2019) [10.1063/1.5108644] [abs].