Information About

The McCormick School welcomed Dean Ho as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in fall 2006. Ho comes from the California Institute of Technology, where he performed postdoctoral work on microfabricated thin-film devices for cellular inter­rogation as well as effector molecule-functionalized polymers for coating microelectromechanical systems-based implants. He completed his PhD at UCLA, where as a graduate student researcher he developed a protein-embedded copolymer capable of biologically inspired energy transduction.

During the course of his studies at UCLA, Ho became interested in developing devices and materials that directly interface biological and nonbiological components for translational or basic science applications. The foundation of his work is the mimicry of intricate processes that occur in nature — such as transmembrane energy conversion or molecular transport — and the use of these hybrid technologies. For instance, Ho has successfully demonstrated a purely protein-driven energy transduction process for photocurrent and antiproton leakage fuel cell applications. These studies were featured in a cover story in the journal Nanotechnology and received coverage in Nature, as well as several Current Opinion review articles.

At Northwestern, Ho and his team of students and postdoctoral researchers have commenced studies on the development and characterization of novel protein-functionalized polymeric materials, as well as microfabricated transducer systems of integrated sensors and actuators. With these studies, Ho’s group is moving beyond cellular surfaces and peering into their internal circuitry to better understand how to activate or even control cellular behavior. This may be useful in tissue engineering applications, directed cellular assembly, and the attenuation of immune responses to artificial materials.

“Nature has perfected a collection of molecular architectures and intracellular signaling elements that drive the processes of life,” says Ho. “For example, material stiffness properties may serve as stimuli, or switches, that activate intracellular reactions to influence cellular behavior and morphology. If we can uncover these mechanisms and functionalize our devices to enable on-demand cell control, we will truly be at an exciting intersection of biology and engineering. We’re hoping these studies will inspire important new knowledge on how to harness nature’s best work for translational applications towards cytomanipulation, novel energy devices, and ‘biocloaked’ implants.”

Having fielded several offers from top U.S. engineering programs, Ho is excited about being at the McCormick School. “Coming to Northwestern was an easy choice for me,” he says. “I feel constantly motivated to produce cutting-edge work that is catalyzed by world-class faculty, students, and staff! The facilities are amazing, and the multidisciplinary spirit of the academic community — which will become ever more important in the future landscape of research — serves as a model to the best universities in the country. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to spark my career.”

For more information on Ho’s research, see www.nbase.northwestern.edu