Nobuo pHonda
Papers
2
Total Citations
47
H-Index
2
About
Nobuo pHonda is a leading figure in the advancement of macromolecular crystallography beamline automation, with a career dedicated to transforming how synchrotron facilities operate. His primary research areas center on high-throughput technologies, including the development of sophisticated sample-exchange robotics and remote monitoring systems. pHonda’s major contribution is the design and implementation of a novel sample-exchange robot featuring double tongs, inspired by the Stanford Synchrotron Research Laboratory (SSRL) SAM system. This innovation, detailed in his most-cited work (34 citations), dramatically reduced the time required to exchange cryo-pins bearing protein crystals, enabling a significant increase in experimental throughput. Building on this, he also pioneered remote monitoring and diffraction evaluation systems (13 citations), allowing researchers to manage and assess experiments from afar—a critical advancement as high-brilliance X-ray sources and high-speed detectors flooded beamlines with data. By integrating robotics and remote capabilities, pHonda has empowered scientists to maximize the utility of limited beamtime, making him a key architect of the modern, high-efficiency crystallography pipeline.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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