Our Research

Our lab's research interests include biosensors, protein mediated cell adhesion, wound healing and self-healing materials.  In general, our research concerns the behavior of proteins and cells at surfaces. These phenomena are central to many aspects of biology and medicine, for example thrombus formation, inflammation, complement activation, immune recognition, wound healing, cell-cell recognition, and cell adhesion to artificial and natural substrates. Proteins and cells at surfaces are also important in many technological applications, such as separation and purification systems, biorecognition-based diagnostics, indwelling sensors, tissue engineering, and soon-to-be realized biologically integrated devices. More specifically, we have focused on protein adsorption, protein-ligand binding, and protein-mediated cellular adhesion at artificial surfaces from the perspective of developing new diagnostics and improving biomaterials.

If you feel a bit overwhelmed by the above description of our research, that's okay -- so were we at first.  If you are interested in learning more about the types of biomaterials and how they are used, we urge you to check out the various interactive tutorials prepared by Duke students at the following link:

Biomaterials Tutorials (Instructional Presentations)

Our lab is part of the Center for Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering (CBTE) at Duke, which is a centralized organization of biotechnology research in the areas of protein engineering, cellular engineering, and tissue engineering.  If you would like to learn more, please visit the CBTE homepage via the link below:

Areas We Focus On

Cell Migration on Protein Gradients

Self-healing materials

Subcutaneous implants