H. Tom SOH

About This Project

Bio

Dr. H. Tom Soh is a Professor at Stanford University with a joint appointment in the department of Electrical Engineering (School of Engineering) and Radiology (School of Medicine). He received his B.S. with a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science with Distinction from Cornell University, and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford. Between 1999 and 2003, he served as a technical manager of MEMS device research group at Bell Laboratories and Agere Systems. Between 2003 and 2015, he was the Ruth Garland Professor at UC-Santa Barbara (UCSB) in the department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials. His laboratory develops synthetic reagents and sensors to measure biomolecules in complex environments with high sensitivity and specificity. He has published over 100 journal articles in this field, which have been widely cited. He is a recipient of a number of prestigious awards including MIT Technology Review’s “TR 100” Award (2002), ONR Young Investigator Award (2004), Beckman Young Investigator Award (2005), ALA Innovator Award (2009), NIH Director’s TR01 Award (2009), John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2010), NIH Edward Nagy Award (2011), and Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2012).
 

Abstract

Continuous, Real-Time Detection of Biomolecules in Live Animals
 
A biosensor capable of continuously measuring specific molecules in the bloodstream in vivo would give clinicians a valuable window into patients’ health and their response to therapeutics. Unfortunately, continuous, real-time measurement is currently only possible for a handful of targets (i.e. glucose, lactose, and oxygen) and existing platforms for continuous measurement are not generalizable for the monitoring other analytes. In this presentation, we will discuss a universal real-time biosensor technology capable of continuously tracking a wide range of circulating molecules in living animals. Our real-time biosensor requires no exogenous reagents, operates at room temperature, and can be reconfigured to measure different target molecules by exchanging probes in a modular manner. To demonstrate the system’s versatility, we will present real-time measurement of doxorubicin (a chemotherapeutic) and kanamycin (an antibiotic) in live animals with sub-minute temporal resolution. Finally, we will present the first closed loop feedback control of drug concentration in live animals with our real-time biosensors and discuss potential applications of our technology.
 

Selected Publications

K. Hsieh et al. “Integrated electrochemical microsystems for genetic detection of pathogens at the point of care” Accounts of Chemical Research 48 (4) 911-920 (2015)
 
J.P. Wang et al. “Particle Display: A Quantitative Screening Method for Generating High-Affinity Aptamers” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 53 (19) 4796-4801 (2014)
 
B.S. Ferguson et al. “Real-time, aptamer-based tracking of circulating therapeutic agents in living animals” Science Translational Medicine 5 (213) 213ra165 (2013)