Research

Regenerative medicine challenges are difficult to study due to the complexity of the biological systems. Conventional cell culturing has been the workhorse for regenerative medicine studies; however, these information-rich method cannot always maintain the desired degree of precision. We design and develop digital microfluidic systems to achieve precisely controllable conditions for cell culturing. In digital microfluidic systems, we make use of electrowetting phenomena to guide droplets on a surface without physically touching them.

Hydrogels are considered to be in the class of smart materials that find application in diagnostic, therapeutic, and fundamental science tools for miniaturized total analysis systems. We tailor hydrogels and integrate them into microfluidic devices for the analysis, processing and sensing of cues that are relevant to biological systems.

From smart polymer bio-coatings to bone-formation-stimulant ceramics, the application of new biomaterials holds great potential to open new avenues to improve life quality, or even save lives. However, the investigation of the interphase between materials and cell response is an immensely large field. The biomaterial discovery studies generate large data libraries of materials, material-cell or material-tissue interactions. Such large data libraries rise the demand for the use of machine learning to describe correlations between material properties and cellular response. We are committed to developing artificial intelligence assisted microfluidic systems that will streamline biomaterials development.