Molecular Biomechanics Laboratory


	William H. Guilford, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Dr. Guilford is director of the Molecular Biomechanics Laboratory. Click above to learn more about his background and research interests.
	Graduate Students
	Vijay Rao Vijay is studying the effects of tropomyosin phosphorylation on actomyosin mechanics and thin filament regulation. · E-mail Mr. Rao	Jeremy Snook Jeremy is using the laser trap to study the two-dimensional on-rates of selectins and their ligands. · E-mail Mr. Snook


	Undergraduate Students
	Ellisha Marongelli	Raha Dastgheyb



	Veterans
	Bin Guo Bin studied the force-dependent kinetics of actomyosin bond breakage in different nucleotide binding states. He got his Ph.D. in 2006 and is currently doing a postdoc with Clare Waterman-Storer at Scripps. · HMM-LMM interactions in motility · Actomyosin bond mechanics
	Sarah Simnowitz Sarah is measuring the specific 2D on-rates of selectins and their natural ligand PSGL-1 using the laser trap. Sarah is now working in the real world making real money as a consultant.	Alicia Evangelista Alicia is studying the effects of nitric oxide on muscle contraction. Her work won second place in the 2006 Undergraduate Research and Design Symposium. She is pursuing her Ph.D. at Boston University.
	Johanne Python Johanne studied the mechanics of membrane tethers pulled from leukocytes via specific adhesion receptors. Her work took first place in the 2005 Undergraduate Research and Design Symposium. She is now a medical student at the University of Colorado	Doug Watson Doug is studying the effects of peroxynitrite on kinesin in the in vitro microtubule sliding assay. Doug is currently working on his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Berkeley. · Laser trap design
	Laura LaBonte Laura studyied the effects of myocardial infarction on myosin and thin filament function in the heart. Laura is currently working on her Ph.D. in Physiology at the University of Arizona.	Caren Petrie Caren compared different blocking agents for use in the in vitro motility assay. Caren is currently working on her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia.
	Michael Cheezum Mr. Cheezum compared computer algorithms for tracking sub-pixel movements of fluorescent particles. · Comparison of tracking algorithms	Brett Ramos Mr. Ramos improved software for high-speed laser trap control. Whereabouts unknown.

	Dede Dascalu Mr. Dascalu developed custom DSP software for high-speed laser trap control and data acquisition. Dede entered the private sector. · Laser trap design	Linda Rinko Linda compared the force-dependent kinetics of P and L selectin in the laser trap. · Selectin-ligand bond mechanics