Translating an understanding of the cutaneous microenvironment into diagnostics and treatments for wounds, cancers, and inflammatory dermatoses Abstract Immune cells are the first responders to injury, pathogens, or malignancy. The various components of the tissue microenvironment dictate what immune cells do when they reach different tissues. The Scumpia lab studies how different components of the […]

Hierarchical Strategies Towards Biointerfacing With Soft Optoelectronic Materials Abstract The applications of functional nanomaterials towards biological interfacing continue to emerge in various fields, such as in drug delivery and tissue engineering. While the rational control of surface chemistry and mechanical properties have been achieved for several of these biocompatible systems, these biomaterials are rarely synthesized […]

Optical Dissection of Brain Capillary Function Abstract My laboratory uses in vivo multiphoton imaging and rodent models to shed light (quite literally) on regulation of cerebral blood flow. In particular, we have focused recent attention on the vast capillary networks that distribute blood throughout the brain. We use light to both visualize capillary structure and […]

Harnessing Physiological Forces to Drive Stem Cell Fate & Function Abstract I will be elaborating about how physical cues are crucial to embryonic development, morphogenic events, and tissue organization, but methods to differentiate cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) mainly rely on chemical cues. As such, the role of substrate stiffness, fluid shear […]

Lasers in Nano-Surgery and Nano-Medicine: Plasmonic Nanobubbles Abstract To improve the safety and efficacy of standards of care in diagnostics and treatment of clinically-challenging diseases including cancer, we combine the laser and nanotechnology approaches into a precise on-demand mechanical impact an nano-scale, a laser pulse-generated vapor nanobubble around plasmonic nanoparticles in target cells. This nano-event, […]