Abstract: Hematologic processes are frequently comprised of cellular and biomolecular interactions that are biophysical in nature and may involve blood cells, the blood vessel wall, soluble factors and proteins, the hemodynamic environment, or all of the above. These phenomena are often pathologically altered in blood diseases and in pathologic clotting but are difficult to study using standard in vitro and in vivo biological systems. With the capabilities to dissect mechanical phenomena at the micro to nanoscales with tight control of the cellular and fluidic parameters, micromechanical and microfluidic systems are ideal systems to study these phenomena.  One example project in our laboratory involves investigating how the mechanical and physical microenvironment affects the physiology and biophysics of platelets, cell fragments in the blood that are first responders to vascular injury. 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 dependent on substrate stiffness. In addition, we have also applied micropatterning techniques to demonstrate that platelets sense the geometry of their microenvironment as they adhere and spread. Another focus of our laboratory is investigating the pathologic vascular obstruction and clotting that occur in diseases such as sickle cell disease and thrombotic microangiopathies.  Using microfluidic techniques, we developed an “endothelialized” microvasculature model to probe the cellular mechanical mechanisms of those diseases. By developing state-of-the art microdevices to answer hematologic questions, the engineering field has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of blood diseases and to develop novel diagnostics and therapeutic targets for patients afflicted with those potentially life-threatening ailments.

Biography: Wilbur A. Lam, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University and has a unique background as a physician-scientist-engineer trained in pediatric hematology/oncology and bioengineering. Dr. Lam’s interdisciplinary laboratory, located at both Emory and Georgia Tech, includes engineers, biologists, biophysicists, and clinicians. Our laboratory serves as a unique “one-stop shop” in which we develop microsystems (microfabricated devices, microfluidics, etc.) to study hematologic processes related in both health and disease and then immediately brings those technologies to the patient bedside. More specifically, the Lam lab’s research interests involve the development and application of microsystems to enable research in pathologic blood cell interactions that occur in diseases such as sickle cell disease and thrombosis, as well as further translating those systems into novel diagnostic devices. 

To learn more about Dr. Lam's work, visit his website at: http://lamlab.gatech.edu/