I have more than 15 years of experience in medicine and health engineering and technology; for a decade, I have focused on the development and translation of novel nano- and micro-systems. I am an Early Stage Principal Investigator at the Department of Medicine, the Medical School of Case Western Reserve University, and the University Hospitals, and my laboratory is devoted to performing highly innovative and reproducible research for tackling challenging questions in medicine—ultimately to provide simple and creative solutions to improve individuals' life and contribute to the progress of society. We focus on (i) disease diagnosis and monitoring—using point-of-care (POC), rapid diagnostics, and mobile and digital health systems, (ii) treatment —using gene-based, microbial, and nanoparticle therapeutics, vaccines, and tissue models and engineering. Our research targets include (i) infections (HIV-1, HPV, HBV, HCV, Zika, HCMV, TB, Salmonella, and malaria) and (ii) infection-related health conditions—cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, and transplant medicine. My publication and professional record demonstrate my commitment to multidisciplinary research, productive and rewarding scientific collaborations. I have more than 25 publications in premier journals in medicine, engineering, and nanotechnology, including Science Translational Medicine, Science Advances, Nature Communications, ACS Nano, Advanced Functional Materials, Nanoscale, and Theranostics, and I have more than four patents and invention disclosures. I have mentored more than 15 postdoctoral research fellows and undergraduate and graduate students. ScienceDaily, Science News, Science World Report, Medical News, the Boston Globe, the Guardian, New York Times, CBS News, STAT, and CNN have recognized the impact of my research work. I am well positioned in experience and resources to lead the proposed research work and develop this novel microchip technology that will have a significant impact to uncover the role of HIV- infection in cancer incidence, progressing and treatment.
Research Information
Research Interests
With Helicobacter pylori, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and human papillomavirus (HPV) has been widely linked to cancer in human. Coinfection—the concurrent or sequential occurrence of infections—with two or more of these pathogens is suggested to play an important role in cancer initiation, development, and progression. My research is focused on developing technologies and systems to uncover the relation between microbial infections and cancer development and progression. Using micro and nano scaled engineering, we pioneered various approaches for biomarkers testing, self-protection and prevention. Our cancer and infection-biomarker research has the potential to transform the understanding of what role that infections play in cancer and how it impacts patient’s response to treatment at individual level.