Prof. Joel Voldman
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, MIT
May 7, 2008 | 12:00 to 01:00 | 521 Cory Hall, Hogan Room
Host: Luke Lee
Microsystems have the potential to impact biology by providing new ways to manipulate cells and the microenvironment around them. These microsystems provide the interface between the macro world and the micro world of cells. Simply physically manipulating cells or their environment--using microfluidics, electric fields, or optical forces--provides new ways to separate cells and organize cell-cell interactions. The interests of our lab are two-fold: 1) to develop ways of sorting cells and 2) to develop microsystems that manipulate cells and the environment in order to study embryonic stem cell self-renewal, differentiation, and reprogramming. In the first area, we have been developing methods that combine electrical and optical scattering forces to sort cells based on imaged spatial and dynamic information, enabling screens based upon complex phenotypic information. In the latter, we have developed microfluidic devices for modulating diffusible signaling between cells and for high efficiency electro-fusion of stem cells and somatic cells for studying fusion-induced cellular reprogramming.
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