MEMS Seminar: Wilbur Lam, "Engineering microsystems to investigate the cellular mechanics of blood in health and disease"
Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Spring 2025 Seminar Series, welcomes Wilbur Lam, Professor at Emory University, who will give the talk, "Engineering microsystems to investigate the cellular mechanics of blood in health and disease."
ABSTRACT: Hematologic processes are frequently comprised of cellular and biomolecular interactions that are biophysical in nature and may involve blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets), endothelial cells, soluble factors (coagulation proteins, von Willebrand factor, and cytokines), the hemodynamic environment, or all of the above. These phenomena are often pathologically altered in hematologic diseases but are difficult to study using standard in vitro and in vivo systems. With the capabilities to dissect cellular and biomolecular phenomena at the micro to nanoscales with tight control of the mechanical and fluidic parameters, micromechanical and microfluidic systems can serve as novel yet physiologic in vitro disease models to provide insight into the pathophysiology of blood disorders. Due to their inherent portability, these microsystems can also be translated into diagnostic tests used at the point-of-care or even at home, where they can be conducted by patients themselves, especially if those technologies are coupled to existing consumer-based devices like smartphones. By developing state-of-the art microdevices to answer hematologic questions that be addressed with standard techniques, microsystems engineering has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of blood disorders and to develop innovative diagnostic technologies for patients afflicted with those life-threatening diseases.
BIO: Wilbur A. Lam, M.D., Ph.D. is a physician-scientist-engineer who is the W. Paul Bowers Research Chair and Professor (with tenure) of Pediatrics and Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology and Associate Dean of Innovation at the Emory University School of Medicine as well as a physician at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where he also serves as Chief Innovation Officer of the Pediatric Technology Center. Dr. Lam obtained his B.A. from Rice University, his M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, and his bioengineering Ph.D. from the UC-, Berkeley and UC- San Francisco, where he also completed his clinical training in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology.
