Faculty of Infectious Diseases

Major advances have been made in the formulation technology at the Nanotechnology Laboratory at the Center for Cancer Research at Mercer, allowing production of nanospheres using the spray drying methodology in a single step aseptic process. Have formulated and tested several oral vaccines, such as oral melanoma, oral TB, oral typhoid vaccines and have obtained excellent immunizations with these novel vaccines and are currently testing oral influenza, oral breast and prostate cancer vaccines.

Development of novel analytical and spectroscopic methods for biodiagnostic and biosensing purposes. Application of surface-enhanced vibrational spectroscopy for the detection and classification of biomedically important pathogens.

Research is focused on new biosensing and bioimaging methods including laser-optical imaging modalities, fluorescent environment-sensitive probes, and image analysis. The research is widely application-driven and focuses on the needs of my collaborators.

SERS research on E. coli O157:H7 has demonstrated a potential technique for rapid detection method. The results indicated that E. coli O157:H7 can be identified from other strains and other bacteria including salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. The patent application for SERS system and method for detection has been filed through UGA Research Foundation. For the encapsulation of fish oil using chitosan, the results indicated a novel technique.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a human respiratory tract pathogen causing bronchitis and pneumonia, especially in older children and young adults. Research encompasses M. pneumoniae colonization of host respiratory epithelium, including the role and mechanism of gliding motility, as well as development of a nanotechnology-based platform for rapid and accurate detection of mycoplasma infections.

Research programs in laboratory are centered on the investigation and development of novel materials and methods for the precise control of organic molecular assemblies, both in solution and on surfaces as ultrathin films. Research activities involve organic and polymer synthesis, surface sensitive characterization techniques, nano- and micropatterning, and materials and device characterization.

Research centers around the merging of Nanotechnology with Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), specifically for biomedical and lab-on-a-chip applications.Focus is not only on the development, characterization and functionalization of new materials and devices, but also on physical modeling, synthesis and device fabrication.

Research interest is to develop translational disease intervention strategies for important human viruses and emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin. Investigate the mechanisms of immunity and disease pathogenesis associated with infection to better understand the conceptual and functional differences between innate and adaptive immune responses that provide the foundation necessary to facilitate vaccine and antiviral therapeutic protocols. The laboratories leverage the talents of academic, government and industry partners to promote ‘bench-to-bedside’ and ‘bench-to-barnyard’ vaccines and therapeutics.

Research program (single molecule study of biological molecular assemblies & systems) is highly inter- and multi-disciplinary which combines Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Material Science and Engineering. Detect biological events at the single-molecule level, which will be key to scientific advances in understanding, identifying, and developing therapies that promote human health.

1.) Nanofabrication and characterization 2.) Chemical and biological sensor development