Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering

B.Sc., Carnegie Mellon University

Ph.D., Cornell University

The peripheral circulation and other biofluids contain a variety of tumor-derived analytes, ranging from intact cells and exosomes to free nucleic acids. These ‘liquid biopsies’ offer a readily accessible and minimally invasive strategy for taking real-time snapshots of a dynamic tumor landscape. Critically, liquid biopsies can improve patient outcomes by revealing therapeutically actionable subpopulations missed using conventional tissue biopsies. However, these circulating biomarkers are extremely rare and require sophisticated strategies to isolate and characterize them. The Pratt Laboratory develops enabling technologies for ultra-sensitive multiplexed profiling of liquid biopsies for cancer monitoring and precision medicine. Our work leverages next-generation genetic tools in combination with techniques from bioengineering and chemical biology.