Liang Han
Brian Hammer's lab studies molecular mechanisms important for microbial interactions. Bacteria are genetically encoded with regulatory networks to integrate external information that tailors gene expression to particular niches. Bacteria use chemical signals to orchestrate behaviors that facilitate both cooperation and conflict with members of the communities they inhabit. The group uses genetics and genomics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and ecological approaches with a focus on the waterborne pathogen Vibrio cholerae.
Frank L. Hammond III joined George W. Woodruff George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering in April 2015. Prior to this appointment, he was a postdoctoral research affiliate and instructor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and a Ford postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in 2010 from Carnegie Mellon University.
Hammond's research focuses on the design and control of adaptive robotic manipulation (ARM) systems. This class of devices exemplified by kinematic structures, actuation topologies, and sensing and control strategies that make them particularly well-suited to operating in unstructured, dynamically varying environments - specifically those involving cooperative interactions with humans. The ARM device design process uses an amalgamation of bioinspiration, computational modeling and optimization, and advanced rapid prototyping techniques to generate manipulation solutions which are functionally robust and versatile, but which may take completely non-biomorphic (xenomorphic) forms. This design process removes human intuition from the design loop and, instead, leverages computational methods to map salient characteristics of biological manipulation and perception onto a vast robotics design space. Areas of interest for ARM research include kinematically redundant industrial manipulation, wearable robotic devices for human augmentation, haptic-enabled teleoperative robotic microsurgery, and autonomous soft robotic platforms.
Bilal Haider is an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. He joined the faculty at Georgia Tech after completing postdoctoral training at University College London.
Haider’s research measures, manipulates and deciphers neural circuit activity underlying normal and impaired visual perception, providing new insights into how the brain processes information and orchestrates behavioral actions.
Haider has received several prestigious awards, including from the Whitehall Foundation, Simons Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. His work has been published in leading journals, including Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications and Neuron.
Robert E. Guldberg is the DeArmond Executive Director of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and Vice President of the University of Oregon. Guldberg’s research is focused on musculoskeletal mechanobiology, regenerative medicine, and orthopaedic medical devices. Over his 25+ year academic career, Dr. Guldberg has produced over 280 peer-reviewed publications, served as an advisor and board member for numerous biotechnology companies, and co-founded six start-ups. He was previously executive director of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech from 2009-2018. In 2018, he was selected from a national search to lead the Knight Campus as its inaugural permanent Executive Director, where he has led the creation of its strategic plan, hired faculty into the campus’ first building opened in 2020, and launched the University of Oregon’s first ever engineering degree program. In 2021, he led the launch of Phase 2 of the Knight Campus development with the announcement of a second $500 million gift from Phil and Penny Knight. At the national level, Dr. Guldberg is past Chair of the Americas Chapter of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS-AM). He currently serves on the Executive Leadership Council of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, a $220 million global initiative to promote wellness and peak performance through scientific discovery and innovation. Dr. Guldberg is an elected fellow of TERMIS, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
My lab is focused on understanding how proteins and other biological systems function at a molecular level. To probe these systems, we carry out molecular dynamics simulations, modeling biological behavior one atom at a time. The simulations serve as a "computational microscope" that permits glimpses into a cell's inner workings through the application of advanced software and high-powered supercomputers. We are particularly interested in how bacteria utilize unique pathways to synthesize proteins and insert them into both the inner and outer membranes, how they import nutrients across two membranes, and how their cell walls provide shape and mechanical strength.
Computational Chemistry
Grover’s research activities in process systems engineering focus on understanding macromolecular organization and the emergence of biological function. Discrete atoms and molecules interact to form macromolecules and even larger mesoscale assemblies, ultimately yielding macroscopic structures and properties. A quantitative relationship between the nanoscale discrete interactions and the macroscale properties is required to design, optimize, and control such systems; yet in many applications, predictive models do not exist or are computationally intractable.
The Grover group is dedicated to the development of tractable and practical approaches for the engineering of macroscale behavior via explicit consideration of molecular and atomic scale interactions. We focus on applications involving the kinetics of self-assembly, specifically those in which methods from non-equilibrium statistical mechanics do not provide closed form solutions. General approaches employed include stochastic modeling, model reduction, machine learning, experimental design, robust parameter design, and estimation.
Colloids; Crystallization; Organic and Inorganic Photonics and Electronics; Polymers; Discrete atoms and molecules interact to form macromolecules and even larger mesoscale assemblies, ultIMaTely yielding macroscopic structures and properties. A quantitative relationship between the nanoscale discrete interactions and the macroscale properties is required to design, optimize, and control such systems; yet in many applications, predictive models do not exist or are computationally intractable. The Grover group is dedicated to the development of tractable and practical approaches for the engineering of macroscale behavior via explicit consideration of molecular and atomic scale interactions. We focus on applications involving the kinetics of self-assembly, specific those in which methods from non-equilibrium statistical mechanics do not provide closed form solutions. General approaches employed include stochastic modeling, model reduction, machine learning, experimental design, robust parameter design, estIMaTion, and optimal control, monitoring and control for nuclear waste processing and polymer organic electronics
Dr. Gross’s research interests include: restorative approaches (including cell and gene therapy) for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders; physiology of movement disorders (Parkinson's disease, tremor, dystonia); novel surgical techniques for epilepsy (e.g. deep brain stimulation, cell and gene therapy). In particular, he has been elucidating the role of axon guidance molecules in the development and reconstruction of the nigrostriatal pathway, which degenerates in P.D. This approach, which encompasses molecular and cellular engineering in combination with neurotransplantation, may be generally useful in reconstructive approaches for many types of nervous system degeneration and injury.
In July of 2007, Dr. Gross, along with Steve M. Potter, Ph.D. of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, was the recipient of a prestigious grant from The Epilepsy Research Foundation (ERF) for translational research funding awards supporting innovative epilepsy products. The grant supports the development of a novel electrical stimulation approach that directly controls the activity of the brain to attain a more stable state from which seizures will not arise.
Steven L. Goudy, MD, MBA, professor of otolaryngology, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine, founding director of the ACGME-accredited pediatric otolaryngology fellowship at Emory, and medical director of otolaryngology at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, is dedicated to providing top-level surgical care to the children of Georgia.
His clinical practice focuses on maxillary development, Pierre Robin sequence, vascular malformations, and velopharyngeal insufficiency. Working closely with colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia Institute of Technology, and other local and state entities, Dr. Goudy and his team have developed novel and innovative solutions for care delivery that have brought value to families and improved treatment for patients.
Dr. Goudys research is focused on defining the biologic processes that guide facial formation for the development of better approaches to regenerating damaged and deficient facial bone and improving wound healing after surgery or injury. Current research projects include an NIH-funded studies to develop immunological approaches to improving oral cavity wound healing, leveraging the oral microbiome to improve oral wound healing and a project to devise cranial facial bone regeneration techniques for pediatric bone replacement procedures.
Dr. Goudy is dedicated to international service, particularly in the areas of surgical education and delivering surgical care to children with limited access to healthcare. He has traveled globally and performed mission work for more than 20 years in such countries as Guatemala and the Philippines, providing free surgical care to patients with cleft lip and cleft palate and engaging in medical education activities.
Michael Goodisman is interested in understanding how evolutionary processes affect social systems and how sociality, in turn, affects the course of evolution. His research explores the molecular basis underlying sociality, the nature of selection in social systems, the breeding biology of social animals, the process of self-organization in social groups, and the course of development in social species. His teaching interests are centered on the importance of behavior, genetics, and ethics in biological systems. Goodisman also works to improve and advance undergraduate education.