Transformative Microsystems for Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment Monitoring, and Clinical Integration (Speaker Bios)

Umut A Gurkan, Ph.D.

Case Western Reserve University

Wilbert J. Austin Professor of Engineering

Umut Gurkan, Wilbert J. Austin Professor of Engineering, leads the Case Biomanufacturing and Microfabrication Laboratory at Case Western Reserve University, holding roles across multiple departments including Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Orthopedics, the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Northern Ohio. His groundbreaking work centers on microcirculation, vascular biology, and red blood cell research, driving the development of innovative microfluidic systems and point-of-care diagnostics for blood disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer, aiming for global diagnostic equity. Gurkan's academic journey includes a Ph.D. from Purdue University and postdoctoral training at Harvard-MIT, leading to over 110 publications, 18 US patents, and the founding of four biotech firms, with products like Gazelle Hb Variant impacting millions across 40+ countries for hemoglobin disorder screening. His leadership in international technology translation extends from the US to Africa, Middle East, Asia, and India. Recognized globally, Gurkan has received prestigious awards like the NSF CAREER Award, MIT Technology Review's Innovator Under 35, and numerous honors from Case Western Reserve, alongside accolades from NHLBI, NAI, NASEM, ASME, and AIMBE. His recent recognitions include the ASME Savio L-Y. Woo Translational Biomechanics Medal, ACTS Distinguished Investigator Award, and the Microcirculatory Society Wiederhielm Award. His work not only pushes scientific boundaries but also fosters equitable access to healthcare innovations worldwide.

Bumsoo Han, Ph.D.

bumsooh@illinois.edu

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Professor

Bumsoo Han is a Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering, and Phil & Ann Sharp Scholar in Cancer Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also a Biohub Investigator at CZ Biohub Chicago. Before joining the University of Illinois, he was a Professor at Purdue University and a Program Leader of the Drug Delivery and Molecular Sensing Program of the NCI-designated Purdue Institute for Cancer Research. Bumsoo Han's broad research interests are in transport processes in biological systems. His current research is focused on drug transport at the tumor microenvironment, microphysiological systems of diseases, and cell-matrix interaction in the stroma tissue. In addition, his group has been developing quantitative microscopy techniques to measure transport and biophysical interactions in the cellular microenvironment. His research contributes to drug discovery and cell/tissue engineering for cancer treatment and prevention. He is currently leading a U01 site of NCI PDAC Stroma Reprogramming Consortium. He received US DOD Postdoctoral Award for Breast Cancer Research, NSF CAREER Award, US AFOSR Faculty Fellowship (Predictive Toxicology), and Richard Skalak Best Paper Award from the ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.

Sheena Kerr, Ph.D.

skerr2@wisc.edu

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research Assistant Professor

Dr Sheena Kerr is a Research Assistant Professor in the Carbone Cancer Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received a BSc degree in Biochemistry from the University of Stirling and a Ph.D in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee, Scotland before completing postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research focuses on using modeling complex microenvironments in microscale systems across multiple diseases. These include using microphysiological systems that recapitulate the tumor microenvironment to elucidate molecular drivers of cancer progression and metastasis and investigating the ability of patient-specific tumor models to report treatment efficacy for precision medicine applications. Other ongoing research interests include human immune responses in host-pathogen interactions and infectious disease.

Hakho Lee, Ph.D.

Harvard Medical School

Professor of Radiology

Hakho Lee, PhD, is a Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University and completed his postdoctoral training at MGH. Dr. Lee's expertise lies in nanomaterials, biophysics, and electrical engineering, with a focus on developing biomedical sensors for clinical use. He leads the Biomedical Engineering Program at the Center for Systems Biology (CSB), MGH, and is a global faculty member at the Center for NanoMedicine at Yonsei University.
Dr. Lee is known for his work in bioengineering, particularly in the development of innovative biosensors for various applications, such as identifying infections, detecting cancer, and conducting on-site testing for COVID-19 and marijuana use. Some of his technologies have been licensed to companies for commercialization. Dr. Lee has a notable publication record in high-impact journals and has received prestigious awards for his work. This includes being named one of the ten finalists of the 2015 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, which recognizes innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers. In 2017, he was elected Hostetter MGH Research Scholar, a significant honor for exceptional MGH researchers. Furthermore, in 2023, he was recognized as part of the Class of Distinguished Investigators by the Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research.

In addition to his research, Dr. Lee has contributed to the field by serving on review panels and as a consultant for various organizations, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the NIH Common Fund Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium. He is also a steering committee member of the NCI Liquid Biopsy Consortium, where he shares his diagnostic technologies with other institutions for early cancer detection.

Lance A. Liotta, M.D.

George Mason University Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine

Co-Director, Distinguished Professor

Dr. Liotta is a tenured track distinguished professor at George Mason University. He received his MD and PhD (Bioengineering) from Case Western Reserve University, and fulfilled his residency at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he initiated a research program that, to date, has yielded more than 700 publications (Highly Cited Investigator Google Scholar h-index 176 ), and more than 100 issued or allowed patents. At NIH Dr. Liotta was Chief, Laboratory of Pathology, Chief, Section of Tumor Invasion and Metastasis, and Deputy Director of NIH under NIH Director Bernadine Healy. He and Dr. Emanuel Petricoin of the FDA set up the first NIH/FDA Clinical Proteomics Program. Dr. Liotta has unique expertise in organ extracellular matrix biology for which he made major discoveries concerning the biochemistry of the basement membrane. Using his bioengineering background, he has experience in molecular imaging, disease pathology, and artificial intelligence/machine learning applied to network modeling.

In 2005, George Mason University recruited Dr. Liotta and their distinguished scientific team, to create the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM). The Mission of CAPMM is to discover disease mechanisms, invent new technologies, educate the scientists of the future, and translate knowledge to help patients through prevention, early detection, and treatment. Dr. Liotta has invented and patented, along with his laboratory co-inventors, high-impact technologies in the fields of diagnostics; microdissection (Laser Capture Microdissection), and proteomics (Reverse Phase Protein Microarrays, Biomarker Harvesting Nanoparticles, Preservation chemistries for tissue, and Protein Painting to discover drug targets), that have been used to make broad discoveries. The Laser Capture Microdissection prototype is in the Smithsonian Collection.

Nimmi Ramanujam, Ph.D.

Duke University

Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Nimmi Ramanujam is the Robert W. Carr Professor of Engineering and Professor of Cancer Pharmacology and Global Health at Duke University and co-program leader of the Radiation Oncology and Imaging Program (ROIP) at the Duke Cancer Institute. Dr. Ramanujam’s research focuses on breast and cervical cancer. Her goals are to design innovations that enable complex referral services often reserved for hospitals to be accessible at the community/primary care level, develop technologies to see and treat women with early-stage disease in one visit and to develop tools that will make cancer treatment more effective and efficient. She founded the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies (GWHT) in 2013 where she empowers trainees to create impactful solutions to improve the lives of women and girls globally. This center, since its inception, has catalyzed new research activities and the development and commercialization of several technologies that advance the prevention and treatment of cervical and breast cancer. She has created two companies Zenalux and Calla Health to commercialize her technologies.

Jeff Wang , Ph.D.

Johns Hopkins University

Louis M. Sardella Professor

Tza-Huei (Jeff) Wang is the Louis M. Sardella Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA in the same year. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on developing cutting-edge micro- and nano-biotechnologies for molecular analysis and biomedical diagnostics, guided by a vision to advance global health equity through technologies that deliver exceptional sensitivity, specificity, affordability, and accessibility. A prolific researcher and inventor, Dr. Wang has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented more than 120 conference papers, and delivered over 150 invited talks worldwide. He holds 27 U.S. patents and 12 international patents. His research has led to the founding of four spin-off companies, including Circulomics, which was acquired by Pacific Biosciences (PacBio). Dr. Wang’s contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, the CRS Jorge Heller Award, the JALA Ten Award, and the Cohen Translational Engineering Award. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).