Abstract:

More than 90% of cancer deaths result from metastasis, hence understanding of metastasis and detection of cancer before spreading are extremely important. During metastasis, some cancer cells escape from the primary tumor and enter the bloodstream, becoming circulating tumor cells (CTCs). As a result, CTCs are potential biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. However, CTCs are extremely rare in the bloodstream, making their detection very challenging. To address this, we have developed several microfluidic devices for CTC Isolation and applied the platform to blood samples of metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.   

Biological protein synthesis is often required for studying a gene’s function since the corresponding protein is needed to characterize its biological properties. Protein synthesis is primarily implemented using over-expression in E. coli cells, but cell-based methods can be cost-prohibitive to carry out in a high-throughput format. We have developed miniaturized fluid array devices for high-throughput cell-free protein synthesis; up to 96 proteins can be simultaneously produced. Due to integrated elements that enable nutrient replenishment and byproduct removal, synthesis yield in our devices is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than in a microwell plate. The devices have been used for various applications including drug screening. 

Bio: Dr. Z. Hugh Fan is a professor of Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida (UF), USA. Currently he holds UF Research Foundation Professorship.  Prior to joining UF in 2003, Dr. Fan was a Principal Scientist at ACLARA BioSciences Inc. (Mountain View, CA) from 2000 to 2003 and a Member of the Technical Staff at Sarnoff Corp. (Princeton, NJ) from1995 to 2000.  He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Ames Laboratory of the US Department of Energy at Iowa State University in 1994.  Dr. Fan received his B.Sc. from Yangzhou Teachers' College in China and his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta in Canada.  His research has been funded by National Institute of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Army Research Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other agencies.  He has authored over 60 journal articles that have been cited more than 4100 times.  Dr. Fan is the recipient of Career Award from NIH in 2011, Fraunhofer-Bessel Award from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) in 2010 and E. T. S. Walton Award from Science Foundation Ireland in 2009.  He also received UF-HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) "Science for Life" Distinguished Mentor Award in 2013 and UF-Sigma Xi Junior Faculty Research Award in 2006. He is an editorial board member of "Scientific Reports" (Nature Publishing Group).