Biomaterials & Nanotechnology

Biomaterials include living tissue and artificial materials used for the repair, replacement, and stimulation of biological systems. Nanotechnology involves the development and use of technologies that operate on the nanometer length scale, around the size of a large biomolecule. Exciting efforts are underway to combine these two areas to assemble materials from nanoscale building blocks.

Our faculty are working at the interface of these two fields, with applications ranging from stem cell culture platforms to bio-inspired coatings to surgical adhesives.

Faculty working in biomaterials & nanotechnology:

Irina Conboy

Professor, Bioengineering

http://conboylab.berkeley.edu/

Our work has been focused on establishing new paradigms in multi-tissue stem cell aging, rejuvenation and regulation by conserved morphogenic signaling pathways. One of our goals is to define pharmacology for enhancing maintenance and repair of adult tissues in vivo. The spearheaded by us heterochronic parabiosis and blood apheresis studies have established that the process of aging is reversible through modulation of circulatory milieu. Our synthetic biology method of choice focuses on bio-orthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) and subsequent identification of age-imposed and disease-causal changes in mammalian proteomes in vivo. Our drug delivery reg medicine projects focus on CRISPR/Cas9 based therapeutics for more effective and safer gene editing.

Steve Conolly

Montford G. Cook Professor, Bioengineering
Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences

http://www.bisl.berkeley.edu/

The Conolly Lab has built the world’s highest spatial resolution MPI scanner and the only projection MPI scanner in the world. In addition, the lab has built the only 3D Projection-Reconstruction MPI scanner currently in existence.

Teresa Head-Gordon

Chancellor’s Professor, Department of Bioengineering,
Department of Chemistry,
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

http://thglab.berkeley.edu/

My research program encompasses the development of general computational and experimental methodologies applied to biochemistry and biology in the areas of water and aqueous hydration, protein folding, structure prediction, protein complexes, membrane proteins, and non-disease and disease protein aggregation. I have also been involved in local and national service, education, and training, which extends to promoting and developing the blueprint for computational biology and biophysical research for the future.

Kevin Healy

Jan Fandrianto Professor, Bioengineering
Professor, Materials Science & Engineering

http://biomaterials.berkeley.edu/

Research in the Healy Lab emphasizes the relationship between materials and the cells or tissues they contact. The research program focuses on the design and synthesis of bioinspired materials that actively direct the fate of mammalian cells, and facilitate regeneration of damaged tissues and organs. Major discoveries from his laboratory have centered on the control of cell fate and tissue formation in contract with materials that are tunable in both their biological content and mechanical properties. Professor Healy also has extensive experience with human stem cell technologies, microphysiological systems, drug delivery systems, and novel bioconjugate therapeutics.

Syed Hossainy

Adjunct Professor, Bioengineering

Sanjay Kumar

Professor and Associate Chair, Bioengineering
Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Faculty Scientist, Biological Systems and Engineering, LBNL

http://kumarlab.berkeley.edu/

Our lab seeks to understand and engineer mechanical and other biophysical communication between cells and materials. In addition to investigating fundamental aspects of this problem with a variety of micro/nanoscale technologies, we are especially interested in discovering how this signaling regulates tumor and stem cell biology in the central nervous system. Recent directions have included: (1) Engineering new tissue-mimetic culture platforms for biophysical studies, molecular analysis, and screening; (2) Exploring mechanobiological signaling systems as targets for limiting the invasion of brain tumors and enhancing stem cell neurogenesis; and (3) Creating new biomaterials inspired by cellular structural networks.

Luke Lee

Arnold & Barbara Silverman Distinguished Professor, Bioengineering
Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
Co-Director, Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center

http://biopoets.berkeley.edu/

Dr. Lee’s research interests are biophotonics, quantum nanoplasmonics, in-vivo nanoscopy, single cell biophysics, quantitative systems biology, SERS, molecular diagnostics, BioMEMS, soft-state Biological Application Specific Integrated Circuits (BASICs), neural interfaces, and systematic neurological science and engineering by Biologically-inspired Photonics & Optofluidic Electronics Technology and Science (BioPOETS).

Seung-Wuk Lee

Professor, Bioengineering
Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

http://leelab.berkeley.edu/

We are interested in bio-inspired nanomaterials and nanotechnology. We are developing new ways to fabricate high performance materials and devices through self-assembly processes by exploiting biological organisms such as viruses and cells. We are also designing synthetic viruses which can be exploited as regenerative tissue engineering materials and drug delivery vehicles.

Dorian Liepmann

Professor, Bioengineering
Professor, Mechanical Engineering

https://liepmannlab.squarespace.com/

BioMEMS, microfluid dynamics, experimental biofluid dynamics, hemodynamics associated with valvular heart disease and other cardiac and arterial flows.

Phillip Messersmith

Class of 1941 Endowed Professor of Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering

http://bioinspiredmaterials.berkeley.edu/

My laboratory is interested in understanding structure-property relationships in biological materials and in using this information to design biologically inspired materials for use in healthcare. Fundamental studies include single molecule and bulk biophysical studies of biointerfacial and bulk mechanochemical phenomena in biological materials, whereas our applied studies the design and synthesis of novel biomaterials for tissue repair and regeneration.

Mohammad Mofrad

Professor, Bioengineering
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

http://biomechanics.berkeley.edu/

Our research program is focused on understanding cell mechanobiology and molecular mechanisms involved in human disease, in particular cardiovascular dysfunctions, brain and neurological disorders, and cancer.