My primary professional interests lie in research and education in biomaterials science and engineering, bioanalytical chemistry and biointerfacial phenomena. These areas are generally populated by researchers with formal training in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, biology and physics, and as such are inherently interdisciplinary and highly collaborative in nature. Our research group has worked to address problems across a number of fields. Highlights include:

Bioinspired and Biomimetic Materials. We have developed several intelligent materials systems that are capable of biospecific molecular recognition and transduction of molecular signals to macroscopically observable responses. These materials are finding application in areas such as diagnostics, environmental monitoring and drug discovery. We have also developed biomimetic membrane materials that have functional hallmarks of biological membranes but that are robust enough to incorporate into manufacturable devices.

Biosensing and Diagnostic Systems. We have developed methods and instrumentation suited for making measurements on arrays of biospecific and cross-reactive sensors. Systems have spanned refractometric, fluorometric, electrochemical and colorimetric transduction methods. This comprehensive suite of methodologies brings substantial power to designing biosensing systems for particular applications, and to benchmarking the performance of new methodologies.

Control of Microbial Interactions with Materials. We were among the first to establish principles for formation of fouling resistant surfaces and stimuli-responsive surfaces that could be used for rapid and efficient release of microbial biofilms.

Analytical Bioseparations. We have demonstrated facile methods for the manufacture of integrated nanofluidic systems that allow controllable sample introduction and highly efficient separation using new methodologies such as nanoelectroosmosis.

Each of these general areas of research remains ripe for new discoveries and innovations. The research environment offered by Duke University and its surroundings provides fertile grounds for continued development in each of these areas, as well as their direct application to specific biological, biotechnological and medical problems.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	3379 CIEMAS
Office Phone:	(919) 660-5435
Email Address:
Web Page:	https://sites.google.com/site/lopezlabatduke/

Education:

PhD, Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, 1991

BS, Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado, 1985

Research Interests:

Prof. Lopez' professional interests lie in research and education in biomaterials science and engineering, bioanalytical chemistry and biointerfacial phenomena.

• BME 590.03, ADVANCED TOPICS Synopsis

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• BME 899.01, SPECIAL READINGS Synopsis

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Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Mendez, Sergio and Fenton, Erin M. and Gallegos, Gil R. and Petsev, Dimiter N. and Sibbett, Scott S. and Stone, Howard A. and Zhang, Yi and Lopez, Gabriel P., Imbibition in Porous Membranes of Complex Shape: Quasi-stationary Flow in Thin Rectangular Segments, LANGMUIR, vol. 26 no. 2 (January, 2010), pp. 1380--1385 [doi]  [abs].
2. Ista, Linnea K. and Mendez, Sergio and Lopez, Gabriel P., Attachment and detachment of bacteria on surfaces with tunable and switchable wettability, BIOFOULING, vol. 26 no. 1 (2010), pp. 111--118 [doi]  [abs].
3. Ding, Liping and Chi, Eva Y. and Chemburu, Sireesha and Ji, Eunkyun and Schanze, Kirk S. and Lopez, Gabriel P. and Whitten, David G., Insight into the Mechanism of Antimicrobial Poly(phenylene ethynylene) Polyelectrolytes: Interactions with Phosphatidylglycerol Lipid Membranes, LANGMUIR, vol. 25 no. 24 (December, 2009), pp. 13742--13751 [doi]  [abs].
4. Gupta, Gautam and Rathod, Shailendra B. and Staggs, Kyle W. and Ista, Linnea K. and Oucherif, Kaoutar Abbou and Atanassov, Plamen B. and Tartis, Michaelann S. and Montano, Gabriel A. and Lopez, Gabriel P., CVD for the Facile Synthesis of Hybrid Nanobiomaterials Integrating Functional Supramolecular Assemblies, LANGMUIR, vol. 25 no. 23 (December, 2009), pp. 13322--13327 [doi]  [abs].
5. Mendez, Sergio and Andrzejewski, Brett P. and Canavan, Heather E. and Keller, David J. and McCoy, John D. and Lopez, Gabriel P. and Curro, John G., Understanding the Force-vs-Distance Profiles of Terminally Attached Poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) Thin Films, LANGMUIR, vol. 25 no. 18 (September, 2009), pp. 10624--10632 [doi]  [abs].