Adventures of probing the immune system through blood

Alphonsus Ng, PhD

Research Assistant Professor,

Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics,

University of Utah

Friday, December 9th at 11:45 am

In-Person in SMBB 2650!

In this seminar, I will talk about two adventures of technology development for measuring the immune system through blood, which typically requires sophisticated instrumentation, trained personnel, and significant laboratory infrastructure. We address these challenges using microfluidics, nanotechnology, as well as system and device integration. Although these technologies are conceptualized and developed in the laboratory, they eventually end up in unexpected places such as a refugee camp in Africa or in the tumor of patients. Our goal is to develop portable devices that can monitor the immune system outside of the research laboratory, and ultimately provide decision support to healthcare professionals in the clinic or in remote locations.

Alphonsus is a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular Pharmaceutics, University of Utah. He was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. James Heath at the Institute for Systems Biology and the California Institute of Technology in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Earlier in his career, Alphonsus completed post- and predoctoral research with Dr. Aaron Wheeler at the University of Toronto, where he received his Ph.D. at the Institute for Biomedical Engineering and B.A.Sc. in the Division of Engineering Science. Alphonsus is the recipient of the Douglas Colton Medal for Research Excellence, Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, Donnelly Centre Research Thesis Prize, and Alexander Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship. His research is in the areas of microfluidics, nanotechnology, and biomolecular/cellular analysis, with applications in infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancer immunology.

Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series

Bioengineering Elevated Talks: Celebrating 50 years of the Department of

Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah