Speaker: Wilbur A. Lam, M.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
Title: Clinical Translation of Engineered Microsystems in Hematology
Abstract: Hematologic processes are frequently comprised of cellular and biomolecular interactions that are biophysical in nature and may involve blood cells (erythrocytes, leukocytes, and platelets), the vascular endothelium, 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 and 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 provide new insight into key aspects of hematology. For example, the capability of using microsystems to study biology at the single cell level enables the quantitative investigation of how the mechanical and physical microenvironment affects platelet physiology and biophysics. Using micromechanical systems, we have characterized platelet contraction, a poorly understood biophysical aspect of clotting, at the single cell level and have demonstrated that platelet contraction force is not only dependent on microenvironmental mechanical and biochemical cues but may also function as a clinical biophysical biomarker to aid in the diagnosis of bleeding disorders. In addition, using single cell micropatterning techniques to study single platelets, we have demonstrated that platelets mechanosense and physiologically respond to the geometry and physical properties of their microenvironment. Microfluidic systems also enable the quantitative study of hematologic and vascular phenomena under tightly controlled hemodynamic conditions. Using microfluidic techniques, we have developed “endothelialized” microvasculature models of blood diseases to and to function as novel drug discovery and diagnostic assays. By developing state-of-the art microdevices to answer hematologic questions, microsystems engineering has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of blood disorders and to develop novel diagnostics and therapeutic targets for patients afflicted with those potentially life-threatening diseases.
Biography: Wilbur A. Lam, M.D., Ph.D. is a physician-scientist-engineer who is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics (with tenure) at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University and 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 University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Francisco, where he also completed his clinical training in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology. Dr. Lam’s interdisciplinary laboratory serves as a unique “one-stop shop” in which they develop microsystems- and smartphone-based platforms to study and diagnose pediatric and blood diseases and then directly translate those technologies to his patients. With an interest in patient-operated diagnostics, the Lam Lab is also dedicated to further developing their technologies as novel “cheap tech” solutions to enable and empower pediatric patients to more easily monitor their own diseases at home and in the global health and rural settings. Dr. Lam has also co-founded and serves as chief medical officer for two medical device startups based on his laboratory’s research. In addition, Dr. Lam is Director of the Innovation Catalyst of the NCATS-funded Georgia Clinical & Translational Science Alliance and a principal investigator of the Atlanta Center for Microsystems Engineered Point-Of-Care Technologies (ACME POCT), which is part of the NIBIB Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network. Among other honors, Dr. Lam has been elected into the American Society of Clinical Investigation, named an Emerging Investigator by the journal Lab-On-a-Chip of which he serves on the Advisory Board for, is recipient of an NSF Career Award as well as the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology’s Frank A. Oski Memorial Lectureship Award and an Emerging Investigator Award by the NHLBI of the NIH. His laboratory’s research is funded by the NIH, NSF, FDA, the American Heart Association, the Coulter Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Georgia Research Alliance.