Molecular and Cellular Sensing and Imaging

 

Anhong Zhou is an Assistant Professor and the principal investigator of the Molecular and Cellular Sensing and Imaging Research Laboratory (MCSIRL) in the Department of Biological Engineering. Laboratory research is mainly focused on the integration of state-of-the-art instrumentation methods and new chemo/bio-sensing technologies for biomolecular surface engineering applications.
 
Current research projects include:
 
  • Highly sensitive and specific electronic and optical detection of DNA-mediated electron transfer
  • Thermodynamics of DNA-DNA hybridization and DNA supramolecular binding with small molecules;
  •  Application of scanning probe microscopy to probe the bacterial extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) due to anti-bacterial drug/bacterial cell interactions
  • Spatio-temporal detection of surface distribution of biomarker molecules on human cancer cells at nanoscale resolution and single cell level
  • Bacterial chemotaxis biosensor
  • Biocorrosion and biocompability studies of surface-engineered bioimplant materials
 
Dr. Zhou’s laboratory is also actively working on the development of a lab-on-a-chip device that would integrate a home-made miniaturized potentiostat with a microfabricated sensor array and microfluidic device for applications in water quality monitoring.