Bioscience and bioengineering

The central aims of our research are to develop methodologies and “rules” for enzyme design and apply these methods to efficiently create novel and practical biocatalysts for applications in drug design, bioremediation, biofuels and green chemistry synthesis. We are currently engineering proteins for these biocatalysts using directed evolution and rational approaches.

The Mechanobiology Lab focuses on developing integrated computational and experimental tools to understand and harness the role of mechanics in physiological processes such as wound healing and stem cell migration, as well as in pathological processes such as fibrosis, surgical adhesions, scar formation, dry eye disease and cancer progression.

The Interdisciplinary Forensic and Biomedical Sciences Lab (ForenBioS) focuses on the use of biochemical techniques for forensic science applications, such as age-at-death estimation, post-mortem interval determination to establish how long ago a person died, body fluid identification and DNA extraction from tough substrates, with implications in biomedical sciences and cell biology.

The Endocrine Disruption and Chemical Biology Laboratory uses chemical tools to investigate the toxicity and mechanisms of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the female reproductive system. These chemicals interfere with the production, distribution and action of hormones in the body. Humans are exposed during daily life to endocrine disrupting chemicals, which include ingredients in pesticides, personal care products, pharmaceuticals and other consumer products.

The Computational Biofluid Dynamics Lab focuses on the simulation of bio-inspired fluid dynamics using high performance computing. We use an in-house, state-of-the-art method which couples fluid mechanics and solid mechanics models in 3D to enable new scientific discoveries. Our high-resolution simulations can capture biological cells, such as red blood cells or cancer cells, deforming and flowing in dense suspensions through complex 3D networks of blood vessels.

The Comparative Communication Lab studies the vocal interactions of songbirds, humans and other animals with an applied interest in the effects of human technologies on communication systems in our own and other species. Our methods include experimental tests of nonlinguistic human communicative capacities, wildlife bioacoustics and laboratory-based studies of developmental vocal learning and group interactive behavior in zebra finches.

The long-term goal of the Clinical Neuromuscular Adaptation Laboratory (CNAlab) is to address the question, “How can we improve reduced motor function in older adults and in individuals with central nervous system injuries?” The CNAlab focuses on three key areas: investigating the neuromuscular mechanisms of motor impairments; developing noninvasive, practical techniques for objective assessments of neuromuscular properties and functional movements such as walking and standing; and understanding how the neuromuscular systems respond to sensorimot

Research in the Cellular Motion Laboratory employs cell migration, glycobiology (the study of sugar structures), mechanobiology and engineering to understand how cancer and immune cells interact and move in their environments and contribute to disease development. Our goal is to fine-tune and precisely control cell migration for therapeutic benefits during disease states. Our lab uses CRISPR genetic engineering to make “designer cells” that improve upon the performance of programmed cell functions or perform new ones.

The Brain Stimulation Laboratory focuses on characterizing the interactions between a living human brain and non-invasive electromagnetic brain stimulation methods to develop improved tools to study and modulate the brain for therapeutic purposes. Specifically, we look at how an electromagnetic field’s properties and an individual’s neural features impact therapeutic outcomes.

The Advanced Biomaterials Translation Laboratory develops novel peptide-based hydrogels that are injected and then self-reassemble in situ in tissue spaces. These constructs can be designed to deliver drugs and other small cargo over day, week or month-long periods.