Tim recently won the 2019 Nerem International Travel Award, created by the friends and colleagues of the founding director of the Petit Institute, Bob Nerem, to honor his career in bioengineering. The annual award of up to $3,000 supports travel and living expenses for post-docs and graduate students traveling outside of the US as a part of their research training. Learn more here.
Brain organoids have allowed neuroscientists to make valid predictions about human neurodevelopmental diseases on the basis of organoid morphology, cellular distribution and composition, and gene expression. Following this trajectory, neuroscientists have proposed brain organoids as a model of human synaptic function. However, this approach is hindered by a primary limitation: techniques to characterize the electrophysiology of living synapses are far too slow and laborious to be applied to comparative or longitudinal studies required to validate organoid models and generate new hypotheses. We are currently addressing this limitation to the growth of brain organoids as a model of synaptic physiology by advancing the throughput and quality of automated multiple patch clamping in intact brain organoids.
We are extending on our prior pioneering work on automated patch clamping robots by developing a robotic patch clamp system for optogenetic tool screening. We will then apply this technology to improve the kinetics of different optogenetic molecules, and also seek to improve the performance of an important class of optogenetic tool – improving the selectivity and conductances of light-gated potassium channels.
Once again, the Precision Biosystems Labratory were the fastest Faculty/Staff group in the annual Georgia Tech Pi Mile Race! The group celebrated their winnings this year with a nice group dinner at JCT. Kitchen & Bar.
