My research focuses on the use of inertial fluid dynamic effects for the control, separation, and manipulation of particles and fluids in microfluidic devices. These innovations are key components of new commercial instruments that automate purification and analysis of cell populations to diagnose disease and create new cell-based therapies. My recent work leverages the ability to control fluids and chemistry precisely at the microscale to develop a range of new technologies. My research group is developing lab-on-a-particle systems that can reach the ultimate limits of probing biology; the level of single-cells and single-molecules. We have invented rapid approaches to select cells based on complex traits to perform directed cellular evolution to produce cell therapies and bio-products.
Awards and Achievements
- Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) ( 2015)
- Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award ( 2014)
- National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award ( 2012)
- Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award ( 2012)
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award ( 2011)
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award ( 2010)
- Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Translational Research Award ( 2010)
- Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
- CAREER Award
- Pioneers of Miniaturization Prize
- Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering