Graduate Seminar Series: Molecular Stream – Mohamed Elsayed

Graduate Seminar Series: Molecular Stream
Graduate Seminar Series for the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME). This day is for molecular stream presenters.
If you would like to invite your Principal Investigator, please add their email via the ‘Add Guest’ button and they will also be notified of your presentation.
Presentation Title: Towards automated cell isolation using Optoelectronic Tweezers and Digital Microfluidics
Abstract:
Optoelectronic tweezers uses patterned illumination to generate electric field gradients, inducing dielectrophoretic forces that can move objects.
I will introduce light-driven micromotors and micromachines based on optoelectronic tweezers. Using a circular micro-gear as a unit component, we demonstrate a range of new functionalities, including a touchless micro- feed-roller that allows the programming of precise three-dimensional particle trajectories, multi-component micro-gear trains that serve as torque- or velocity-amplifiers, and micro- rack-and-pinion systems that serve as microfluidic valves.
I will present the utility of this technique in a biological application through a project “Autonomous control of optoelectronic microrobots for brain stem cell isolation”. There are various exciting research questions in the field of neuroscience that require harvesting stem cells from mouse brains. Current methods for harvesting stem cells have poor yield and often require pooling cells from various mice, placing serious limitations on the type of research. We explored using the optoelectronic micro-robot to harvest stem cells from primary dissection cell suspensions. These are sensitive cells so they benefit strongly from the gentle approach offered by the optoelectronic micro-robot.
I will then switch gears to present work done to date in another project using digital microfluidics “Automated processing of sexual assault samples to enable rapid DNA analysis”. Sexual assault samples contain DNA from multiple sources, making them one of the most challenging types of forensic samples to analyze, often beyond the reach of rapid DNA analyzers. The goal of this project is to develop a workflow that facilitates the use of rapid DNA typing instruments for sexual assault samples.
Supervisor Name: Aaron Wheeler
Year of Study: 5
Program of Study: PhD
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89610372821?pwd=azd4SCtYVWtreVovaGNPV1c2NGY2Zz09
Meeting ID: 896 1037 2821
Password: 483329
Powered by Calendly.com