Areas of Interest

BioMEMS, microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip, microsystem integration and packaging, world-to-chip interfacing, cell-to-chip interfacing, implantable biomedical microdevices

Research

The focus of the Biomedical Microsystems Laboratory is to leverage micro- and nano-technologies to develop drug delivery platforms that achieve three main goals: (1) benchtop tools compatible with both dissociated cells and whole tissue for rapid scientific and drug discovery, (2) implants intended for animal models of diseases for targeted release, and (3) translational medical device technologies for the treatment of human conditions.

The ability to delivery or extract minuscule volumes of fluid with spatiotemporal precision is an extremely powerful technology that enables advanced biomedical therapies. These technologies advance beyond conventional needles for drug injection or Petri-dish based biomedical research. This approach may lead to effective treatments of central nervous system injuries (e.g. traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and stroke), epilepsy, cancer, and other diseases that result in devastating lifelong physical disabilities in millions of Americans. Many of these conditions are presently incurable and drug therapy is the preferred treatment method. My research team is engaged in several clinical collaborations to address these conditions and is even looking at ways to better understand drug addiction with our devices. Furthermore, we are developing next generation closed-loop drug delivery platforms that include integrated sensors that can detect when drug is needed, trigger the delivery, and continually monitor the effectiveness of the treatment.

For details on specific research areas, please visit the lab webpage (click link on the right).