Long Que
Iowa State University, IA·Biomedical Engineering
Many diseases involve how cells behave in specific physical settings, such as blood flowing past a vessel wall or chemicals crossing into the brain. Animal studies of these processes are slow and costly.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Engineering
Neuroscience
- Topics
microfluidics
organ-on-a-chip
lab-on-a-chip
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Sep 2028
What they work on
- Develop a microfluidic chip with chamber arrays that links gut bacteria or microbiota to brain tissue models through an in vitro blood-brain barrier, mimicking two-way gut-brain communication.
- Measure neurotransmitters made by gut microbiota in real time with on-chip sensors, and study how these chemicals affect healthy and diseased brain models.
- Establish an experimental-theoretical method to relate shear rate to platelet behavior and pick integrin tension sensors, fluorescent force reporters, of suitable strength for blood vessel chips.
- Study how realistic shear rates, pulsing flow and drug combinations at varied doses affect single platelets on chip, to understand clot formation and aid anti-thrombosis drug screening.
More about the research
Both projects here build microfluidic chips, small devices with tiny channels and chambers, that recreate these settings in the lab. The chips include built-in sensors for precise, real-time measurements.
Why it matters
These chips could offer faster, cheaper alternatives to animal studies. For neurodegenerative disorders affecting millions of aging Americans, the gut-brain chip could reveal how microbial chemicals affect brain tissue. For cardiovascular disease, which caused about 25 million deaths worldwide in 2020, the platelet chip could help screen anti-clotting drugs and drug combinations against thrombosis.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Chip-based Studies of the Interactions Between Neurotransmitters and Brain Model through Blood Brain Barrier
NSF · Oct 2025 – Sep 2028
Platelets on Chip: Studies of Mechanobiology of Platelet-Mediated Thrombosis Enabled by Molecular Fluorescence Sensors Grafted inside Microfluidic Chips
NSF · Jan 2023 – Dec 2026
Closest labs
Toshikazu Nishida
University of Florida, FL·Engineering
Develop zero-power magnetic field sensors and shear-stress sensors for self-powered, edge-of-the-node sensing in IoT systems.
Mandakh Bekhbat
Emory University, GA·Neuroscience·Early-career
Measure glycolysis, a fast sugar-burning energy pathway, in blood monocytes from people with HIV, and relate it to inflammation, reward-circuit function and anhedonia.
David Durgan
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Physiology
Identify which gut bacteria produce extracellular vesicles that raise blood pressure, using a dilution scheme to simplify bacterial communities, and test the roles of vesicle flagellin and lipopolysaccharide.
The school
Iowa State University: 23 labs on PI Pages, $462M a year on research, 327 research doctorates a year.
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