Towards the "Smart Bandage"
Novel sensors capable of detecting and identifying human
pathogens have the promise of providing a significant
positive impact on human health. Whether as devices to
be used in a clinical setting, or consumer products for
the detection of contaminated foods or infected wounds,
the development of such sensors will require a wide
range of new, robust, and inexpensive technologies. In
collaboration with the research groups of Philippe
Fauchet, Lewis Rothberg, and the Center for Future
Health at the University of Rochester, our group is
working towards the development of novel organic
receptors that are specific for a variety of human
pathogens, and the integration of such receptors into
optical devices. We have recently successfully used this
technology to demonstrate the first highly selective
sensor for Gram-(-) bacteria.
Biography
Ben Miller is a native of southwestern Ohio. He began
his academic training at Miami University, in Oxford,
Ohio, receiving A. B. degrees in German and Mathematics,
and a B. S. in Chemistry. He completed graduate study in
Organic Chemistry at Stanford University, under the
direction of Prof. Paul Wender, and received a Ph. D. in
1994. Following a National Institutes of Health
postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University under the
direction of Stuart Schreiber, he began his independent
academic career at the University of Rochester in
1996. Prof. Miller’s research program combines elements
of organic synthesis, computer-aided molecular design,
combinatorial chemistry, and device science.
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