Associate Professor
BME Graduate Faculty Status

Ph.D., 1999, The Johns Hopkins University

Grounded in science and engineering fundamentals, research in my laboratory focuses on combining new engineering principals with advanced life science methods to develop a systematic, quantitative, and integrative way of understand fundamental biological phenomena at the molecular and cellular levels. My research has implications in tissue engineering, wound repairs, microorganism invasions and disease states such as cancer metastasis. My lab is focused on three main areas of research:

• Developing high-throughput methods to establish the complete “interactome“ of the recently discovered bacterial cytoskeleton. After identifying regulators of the cytoskeleton, we will be able to pursue new molecular strategies to prevent bacterial invasion processes.
• Combining micromanipulation and systems biology approaches to elucidate the distribution and function of lipids in cellular processes. Total internal reflection (TIRF) microscopy combined with cellular engineering will help us understand the relation between spatial and temporal micro-heterogeneity of the cell membrane and the roles of lipids in regulating cellular activities.
• Applying in vivo multiple-particle tracking microrheology to study cell-mechanical mechanisms where force plays an essential role. We will focus on the role that force plays in regulating drug delivery, viral infection and bacterial invasion.