Dr. Sassi joined PNNL in 2014 and his research interests are interdisciplinary, with proven impacts that span across materials science, geochemistry, nuclear science, environmental chemistry and radiochemistry. Dr. Sassi is a versatile computational expert who primarily uses density functional theory to understand the effects of high energy particles and transmutation originating from radioactive decays on the structure and stability of various systems such as nuclear materials, organic and biomolecules, and soil minerals. He also has investigated the physical, chemical and thermodynamic properties of minerals and other solids, including simulating processes such as adsorption, atom incorporation, solid-state diffusion and transformations at solid-fluid interfaces.