Michelle’s research is themed around designing and characterizing the surface chemical properties of synthetic and natural polymer systems. They will be used to develop multifunctional biomaterial substrates for regenerative medicine, cancer treatment, and personal care products. The goals of the Gaines Lab are achieved by marrying Polymer Synthesis, Materials Science, Cell Biology & Spectroscopy.

Fedorov's background is in thermal/fluid sciences, chemical reaction engineering as well as in applied mathematics. His laboratory works at the intersection between mechanical and chemical engineering and solid state physics and analytical chemistry with the focus on portable/ distributed power generation with synergetic CO₂ capture; thermal management of high power dissipation devices and electronics cooling; special surfaces and nanostructured interfaces for catalysis, heat and moisture management; and development of novel bioanalytical instrumentation and chemical sensors. Fedorov joined Georgia Tech in 2000 as an assistant professor after finishing his postdoctoral work at Purdue University.

Prof. Ethier was originally trained as a mechanical engineer, receiving his Ph.D. from MIT in 1986 working in the lab of Roger D. Kamm. He then joined the University of Toronto, where he was a Professor of Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Ophthalmology, and latterly the Director of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. Prior to joining Georgia Tech/Emory, Professor Ethier was the Head of the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College, London from 2007-12. 

His research is in the biomechanics of cells and whole organs. His specific research topics include glaucoma (biomechanics of aqueous humour drainage in the normal and glaucomatous eye, and the mechanical and cellular response of optic nerve tissues to intraocular pressure), study of hemodynamic basis of arterial disease.

Dr. Simone Douglas-Green (@DrBlackBoots on Twitter/X and Instagram) is a new Assistant Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, where she has been named a BME Distinguished Faculty Fellow. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami, and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the joint program at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Dr. Douglas-Green’s professional and scholarly development as a doctoral and postdoctoral trainee has been supported by a number of awards including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Minority Ph.D. (MPHD) Fellowship, NASEM Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program (PDEP). The Douglas-Green Lab focuses on developing tools/techniques to study how biology interacts with nanoparticles with an emphasis on understanding person and disease specific proteins coronas. Her goal is to train the next generation of engineers to be “EPIC”- engineering with purpose, inclusivity and compassion.

Dr. Dixon began at Georgia Tech in August 2009 as an Assistant Professor. Prior to his current appointment, he was a staff scientist at Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne) doing research on tissue-engineered models of the lymphatic system. Dr. Dixon received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering while working in the Optical Biosensing Laboratory, where he developed an imaging system for measuring lymphatic flow and estimating wall shear stress in contracting lymphatic vessels. 

Dr. Dixon's research focuses on elucidating and quantifying the molecular aspects that control lymphatic function as they respond to the dynamically changing mechanical environment they encounter in the body. Through the use of tissue-engineered model systems and animal models, our research is shedding light on key functions of lymphatic transport, and the consequence of disease on these functions. One such function is the lymphatic transport of dietary lipid from the intestine to the circulation. Recent evidence from our lab suggests that this process involves active uptake into lymphatics by the lymphatic endothelial cells. There are currently no efficacious cures for people suffering from lymphedema, and the molecular details connecting lymphedema severity with clinically observed obesity and lipid accumulation are unknown. Knowledge of these mechanisms will provide insight for planning treatment and prevention strategies for people facing lipid-lymphatic related diseases. 

Intrinsic to the lymphatic system are the varying mechanical forces (i.e., stretch, fluid shear stress) that the vessels encounter as they seek to maintain interstitial fluid balance and promote crucial transport functions, such as lipid transport and immune cell trafficking. Thus, we are also interested in understanding the nature of these forces in both healthy and disease states, such as lymphedema, in order to probe the biological response of the lymphatic system to mechanical forces. The complexity of these questions requires the development of new tools and technologies in tissue engineering and imaging. In the context of exploring lymphatic physiology, students in Dr. Dixon's laboratory learn to weave together techniques in molecular and cell biology, biomechanics, imaging, computer programming, and image and signal processing to provide insight into the regulation of lymphatic physiology. Students in the lab also have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary environment, as we collaborate with clinicians, life scientists, and other engineers, thus preparing the student for a career in academia and basic science research, or a career in industry.

Dr. Davis holds positions as a Professor in both Cardiology and Biomedical Engineering at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Additionally, he serves as an associate chair for graduate studies at BME department, and a director of the Children's Heart Research and Outcomes (HeRO) Center. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Systems Pharmacology at Emory University in 2003 working on molecular regulation of eNOS expression by shear stress. From 2003-2006, he completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital working on cardiac tissue engineering with collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He moved back to Emory in 2006 to join the faculty in Division of Cardiology and Biomedical Engineering Department.

Lakshmi Prasad Dasi is an established researcher in the field of prosthetic heart valves, cardiovascular biomechanics, biomaterials, and devices. He is currently a tenure Professor of Biomedical Engineering, at Georgia Institute of Technology while holding the Rozelle Vanda Wesley Endowed Professorship as well as being the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. He has held positions at The Ohio State University, and Colorado State University previously. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) as well as Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (FAIMBE). 

Dasi earned his Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2004 with a focus in fluid dynamics and turbulence. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow and research engineer under Prof. Ajit Yoganathan’s mentorship at Georgia Tech where he transformed his research focus to heart valves, devices, and cardiovascular biomechanics. In 2009, he established the Cardiovascular Biofluid Mechanics Lab (CBFL) as Assistant Professor at Colorado State University and moved to The Ohio State University in 2015 as his focus became more translational. Since 2020, his research at Georgia Tech focuses on tackling the complexity of: (a) heart valve biomechanics (native and prosthetic); (b) prosthetic heart valve engineering (conventional & trans-catheter); (c) structure-function relationships of the heart in health and disease at the embryonic, pediatric, as well as adult stages; and (d) turbulence and turbulent blood flow.

James Dahlman is a bioengineer / molecular engineer whose work lies at the interface of chemistry, nanotechnology, genomics, and gene editing. His lab focuses on targeted drug delivery, in vivo gene editing, Cas9 therapies, siRNA therapies, and developing new technologies to improve biomaterial design. 

The DahlmanLab is known for applying 'big data' technologies to nanomedicine. The lab is pioneering DNA barcoded nanoparticles; using DNA barcodes, >200 nanoparticles can be analyzed simultaneously in vivo. These nanoparticles are studied directly in vivo, and used to deliver targeted therapies like siRNA, mRNA, or Cas9. As a result of this work, James was named 1 of the 35 most innovative people under the age of 35 by MIT Technnology Review in 2018. James has won many national / international awards, and has published in Science, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Cell Biology, Cell, Science Translational Medicine, PNAS, JACS, ACS Nano, Nano Letters, and other journals. James has also designed nanoparticles that efficiently deliver RNAs to the lung and heart. These nanoparticles can deliver 5 siRNAs at once in vivo, and are under consideration for clinical development. As a result, the lab has an interest in immunology and vascular biology. 

James supports entirely new research students come up with independently. To this end, DahlmanLab students learn how to (i) generate new ideas, (ii) select the good ones, and (iii) efficiently test whether the good ideas will actually work. 

Dahlman Lab students learn how to design/characterize/administer nanoparticles, how to isolate different cell types in vivo, how to rationally design DNA to record information, Cas9 therapies, and deep sequencing. As a result, the lab is an interdisciplinary group with students that have backgrounds in medicinal chemistry, BME, bioinformatics, biochemistry, and other fields. The lab welcomes students with all types of scientific backgrounds. The lab firmly stands by students, independent of their personal beliefs, preferences, or backgrounds.

Ahmet Coskun is a systems biotechnologist and bioengineer, working at the nexus of multiplex imaging and quantitative cell biology.

Single Cell Biotechnology Lab is strategically positioned for imaging one cell at a time for spatial context. We are multi-disciplinary researchers interested in photons, ions, and electrons and their interactions with cells and tissues.  Using large-scale experiments and computational analysis, we address fundamental challenges in cancers, immunology, and pediatric diseases. Variability of single cell profiles can be used to understand differences in therapeutic response, as well as satisfy our curiosity on understanding how cells are spatially organized in nature.

Our lab aims to deliver biotechnologies for spatial multi-omics profiling vision at the single cell level.

1) Spatial genomics: Our lab was part of an early efforts to demonstrate spatially resolved RNA profiling in single cells using a sequential FISH method. We will continue leveraging seqFISH and correlation FISH (another computational RNA imaging method) for exploring spatial dynamics of cellular societies.

2) Spatial proteomics: Our lab develops expertise on antibody-oligonucleotide based barcoding for multiplex protein imaging using CODEX technology. We combine CODEX with super-resolution and 3D imaging to visualize and quantify subcellular epigenetic states of immune and cancer cells.

3) Spatial metabolomics: Our lab works on computational and isotope barcoding approaches for small molecule profiling using MIBI (Multiplexed ion beam imaging). 3D and subcellular metabolic state of individual cells are used to model functional modes of cellular decision making in health and disease.

We also develop machine learning and deep learning algorithms to make sense of imaging based single cell big data.

In a nutshell, we create image-based ‘omic technologies to reveal spatial nature of biological systems. We benefit from enabler tools:  Super-resolution bioimaging, barcoded biochemical reagents, advanced algorithms and automated microfludics. Topical interests include Spatial Biology, Liquid Biopsy, and Global Oncology.

Ahmet Coskun trained at Stanford (Postdoc/Instructor with Garry Nolan), Caltech (Postdoc with Long Cai) and UCLA (PhD with Aydogan Ozcan). His lab is currently funded by NIH K25, BWF CASI, Georgia Tech & Emory.