We invent and develop systems which couple fluid flow, chemical reactions, mass transport, heat transfer, and/or electric fields and apply these to chemical and biological assays. We design, build, and test microfluidic devices that couple electrokinetics with chemical reactions for on-chip analyses of DNA and high-throughput flow systems for cell assays. We have two funded projects for which we seek a motivated postdoctoral researcher:
1. We are developing a microfluidic device for fully automated detection of the RNA of SARS-CoV-2 RNA (the virus which causes Covid-19) in less than 60 min. The device will feature electric field control and enhancement of four processes: RNA extraction, reverse transcription, LAMP amplification, and highly specific detection using CRISPR/Cas enzymes. See a preliminary version of this assay here: Ramachandran et al., PNAS, 117, 47 (2020).
2. We are conducting a fundamental study of CRISPR/Cas enzymes with the goal of exploring the ultimate sensitivity of CRISPR-based diagnostic systems. This work includes developing experimentally validated models of enzyme kinetics and detailed models for the signal-to-noise ratio associated with CRISPR diagnostics. See Ramachandran & Santiago, Analytical Chem., 93, 20 (2021).
Department URL:
https://me.stanford.edu
