Achievement

Along with his colleagues in the Biomedical Engineering Department, IGERT-LifeChips fellow Ted Pham has collaborated with Dr. Douglas Wallace’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania to perform interdisciplinary research. They have made several findings on isolated mitochondria with lab-on-a-chip technology. Specifically, the micro-device with interconnected channels and chambers along with specially made ion-selective membranes enables rapid assessment of the mitochondrial inner membrane potential. This device, while producing accurate results, requires only a minute amount of mitochondrial sample as compared with commercially available technology. This advantage ultimately translates into less sample or fewer amount of cells at the start of mitochondria isolation, making it possible to study rare cell populations.