“Our CADMIM membership is pivotal in building a network with world leading experts in microfluidics. CADMIM enabled us to conduct research projects at the transition from basic research to industrial application expanding our capabilities far beyond internal expertise. Combined with the focus on manufacturability the center offers a unique set of expertise and opportunities.”
– Dr. Frank Narz, Director R&D Scientific Applications, QIAGEN GmbH

“CADMIM offers a unique blend of university research from leading researchers in the field supported by leading providers of microfluidic manufacture and development. For the industrial members of CADMIM, who are interested in new product opportunities, this means novel IP is quickly reduced to practice for real world applications.”
– Dr. Leanna Levine, Founder, President and CEO, ALine, Inc.

“With tight research budgets, CADMIM offers an opportunity to leverage industrial investments. We’ve been able to guide world-class research in microfluidics toward challenges in technology development that are barriers to transition. Working in partnership with other members of the industrial advisory board has also brought valuable insight to our programs.”
– Dr. Laura Rea, Program Manager, Soft Matter Materials Branch, Air Force Research Laboratory

Successful Fall CADMIM IAB Meeting
Many thanks to everyone who attended the Fall 2023 CADMIM IAB meeting! Great to see so many of you in person at the University of Illinois, Chicago and reconnect with those who participated online. Also many thanks to all the students and post-docs who prepared posters, and to Dr. David Eddington for arranging the evening White Sox game! More photos from this event here: Sept. 2023 Meeting Photos.

UIC Grad Student Interns at Genus PLC via NSF INTERN Program

In August 2023, Mr. Moein Naderi, PhD Candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Zhangli Peng, CADMIM faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago, started an internship at Genus PLC, supported by the NSF INTERN program. Genus is a world-leading animal genetics company and a CADMIM IAB member. Genus supplies high-quality breeding animals with desirable characteristics to farmers, enabling them to produce better quality meat and milk more efficiently to feed the world more sustainably.

For more information on the NSF INTERN program: www.nsf.gov/INTERN
For more information about Genus PLC: https://www.genusplc.com/

CADMIM Hosts START and REM Summer Internship Programs
The UC Irvine site of CADMIM hosted high school students, undergraduate students, and visiting faculty for 8 weeks over the summer through Skills Training in Advanced Research & Technology (START) and Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) supplements from the National Science Foundation. 12 interns participated in research in the laboratories of Abe Lee (CADMIM Director), and CADMIM Core faculty Jered Haun, Michelle Digman, Elliot Hui, and Brian Paegel. In addition to research, the interns also participated in career development activities – including a visit to CADMIM IAB member Amgen, Inc. on July 19, 2023. UCI faculty, post-docs, and graduate students on several CADMIM research projects mentored by Amgen also participated.

2023 START and REM interns: Denise Foley, Kim Johnson, Sandra Sanchez, Levon Martirosian, Carolyn Nguyen, Djanice Hoy, and Sarah Meadows from Santiago Canyon College, Ogochukwu Ozonevo and Marcus Mallabo from California State University Long Beach, Ron Nguyen and Bryan Orozco from UCI, and Kayla Hui from University High School.

For more information about the START supplemental funding opportunity: NSF START
For more information about the REM supplemental funding opportunity: NSF REM

UIC NIH NIDDK R01 Renewal
Congratulations to Dr. Salman Khetani, CADMIM Core Faculty at University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC). He is the PI on a renewed R01 grant from the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). “Synergistic effects of ECM and heterotypic crosstalk on cellular responses in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” has been renewed for another 4 years with $2.3M additional funds. Co-PIs are Dr. Yang Dai at UIC and Dr. Gregory Underhill at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. This project was initiated in February 2018. Congratulations to the team on getting the funds to continue this important work!

CADMIM Ph.D. Graduates
Congratulations to Evan Luo, Joy Chen, Marzieh Ataei, and Roy Jiang! All graduated with PhDs from Dr. Abe Lee’s lab and contributed to various projects at CADMIM.

CADMIM-funded Journal Publications

• Ruoyu Jiang, Paul Yoo, Abhinand M. Sudarshana, Emma Pelegri-O’Day, Sandeep Chhabra, Marissa Mock, Abraham P. Lee, “Microfluidic Viscometer By Acoustic Streaming Transducers,” Lab on a Chip, 23(11), pp. 2577-2585, April 2023. Access paper: Lab on a Chip Paper
• Hua Gao, Jian Zhou, Moein Naderi, Zhangli Peng, and Ian Papautsky, “Evolution of Focused Streams in Viscoelastic Flow in Spiral Microchannels,” Microsystems & Nanoegineering, 9(73), 15 pages, June 2023. Access paper: Publication

4 CADMIM Undergrads Receive REU Supplements
Two Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) supplements were awarded to the University of California, Irvine in Fall 2022. Aria Wang (in the laboratory of Dr. Elliot Hui, CADMIM Core Faculty) is working on a project entitled “MiniKASP Microfluidic Platform.” Chibuike Ezenekwe (in the laboratory of Dr. Michelle Digman, also CADMIM Core Faculty) is working on a project entitled “Camera-based Spectral Detection of Dipolar Relaxation in Microfluidic Controlled Gradients.” 

Two additional REU supplements were awarded to the University of Illinois, Chicago in Fall 2022. Rana Abbbed (in the laboratory of Dr. David Eddington, CADMIM Core Faculty) is contributing to “Y8-004: “Reproducible Generation and Passaging of Patient-Derived Cancer Organoids.” Arman Raghian (in the laboratory of Dr. Ian Papautsky, CADMIM Co-Director) is working on a project entitled “Microfluidic Cell Culture for Precision Oncology.”

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