Blake N. Johnson

About

Our research in the Advanced Biomanufacturing and Biosensing (AdBio) Lab is driven by the study of multi-material additive manufacturing processes, particularly in the areas of microstructure control, property grading, conformal manufacturing, material design, and process-structure-property relationships. Simultaneously, the AdBio Lab leverages multi-material 3D printing processes toward the development of novel technologies including biosensors and biomedical devices to: 1) enable sensitive, selective real-time detection of biologics in complex matrices (e.g. body fluids, environmental samples, cell culture media, and tissues); 2) better understand the parameters that govern physiology, pathophysiology, and regeneration of the human nervous system; and 3) characterize the dynamics of ischemic response of tissues and whole organs. Thus, we are fundamentally interested in bioconjugation chemistries, surface/interfacial chemistry, surface functionalization, acoustofluidics, transport phenomena in biological systems, bioreactor design, and process control.

Toward these aims the AdBio Lab contains capabilities in materials processing, cell culture, biomanufacturing, and materials and device characterization. Our core characterization techniques include impedance analysis, bioassays (e.g. ELISA, PCR), QCM, microscopy as well as finite element modeling.

Applications heavily-focused on human-centered manufacturing and technology, and include: peripheral nerve regeneration, neural interface, drug discovery and screening, real-time organ assessment, medical diagnostics, food safety, environmental monitoring, and bioprocess engineering/monitoring.