Matt Kerby was a graduate student in the biomedical engineering PhD program.  His research interests focused on using micro geometries to probe model biological systems on chip. In this research effort, a variable shear microfluidic device was developed to characterize adhesion of microspheres under flow.   Antibody-labeled microspheres are circulated through the microfluidic device consisting of a region of defined flow functionalized with target proteins or endothelial cells expressing target surface markers.  The adhesion and detachment kinetics are important for developing therapies and diagnostics using antibodies. The device will allow in situ culture of cells under controlled stress conditions, which is known to strongly influence protein expression in cells. Transfection techniques and interference RNA treatments to the cells will provide additional information on expression pathways.  Microspheres can provide a rapid interrogation of the surface proteins without use of cytotoxic dyes.

Protein expression in cells can be quantified by gene array following the amplification of complimentary DNA from messenger RNA, which is time consuming.  An additional project focused on the kinetics of RNA transcription under continuous flow in a microchannel.  The aim was to understand the concentration, thermal and transport limitations of monomer NTPs and inhibitory product polymer cDNA on the total reaction rate.

Prior to attending Brown in fall 2004, he worked for more than 10 years in private industry.  Most recently, he provided consulting services to the biotech industry. From 2000-2003, he worked at Caliper Technologies developing microfluidic techniques for bioseparations and diagnostics. From 1997-2000 at Point Biomedical Corp, he developed microspheres for drug delivery application and ultrasound diagnostics. From 1994-1997, he worked as a chemical engineer at Econco electronics.
He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis and a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from California State University, Sacramento.

12.   Urban JC, Mouallem L, Tripathi A, ‘Human serum inhibits adhesion of microspheres targeted to endothelial inflammatory ligands’ Annals of Biomedical Engineering, July 2007 (manuscript submitted)

11.   Kerby MB, Patel M, Artenstein A, Opal S, Tripathi A, ‘Early termination of human H5 influenza in vitro RNA synthesis’ Analytical Biochemistry, June 2007, (manuscript submitted)

10.   Jauzi, M., Kerby MB, Tripathi, A. and Xu, J., Measurements of conformation dependent activity of single biomolecules using nanoneedles. June 2007(manuscript submitted)

9.     Kerby MB, Freeman SF, Prachanronarong K, Artenstein A, Opal S, Tripathi A, ‘Direct Sequence Detection of H5 Influenza Viral RNA’  May 2007 (manuscript submitted)

8.     Ottoboni S, Short RE, Kerby MB, Tickner EG, Steadman E, Ottoboni TB, ‘Characterization of the in vitro adherence behavior of ultrasound responsive double-shelled microspheres targeted to cellular adhesion molecules.’ Contrast Media Mol Imaging. 2006 Nov; 1(6):279-90.

7.     Kerby MB, Legge RS, Tripathi A, ‘Measurements of Kinetic Parameters in a Microfluidic Reactor.’, Anal Chem. 2006 Dec 15; 78(24):8273-80.

6.     Kerby MB, Lee J, Ziperstein J, Tripathi A., ‘Kinetic measurements of protein conformation in a microchip.’, Biotechnol Prog. 2006 Sep-Oct; 22(5):1416-25.

5.     Kerby MB, Wu S, Fathollahi B, Chien R-L, ‘Selective Ion Extraction for High Throughput Screening with a Microfluidic Enzyme Assay’, Journal of Laboratory Automation, Dec 2002, 7 No.6, 114-119

4.     Kerby MB, Spaid M, Wu S, Parce JW, Chien R-L, ‘Selective Ion Extraction: a Separation Method for Microfluidic Devices’, Anal Chem. 2002 Oct 15; 74(20):5175-83.

3.     Kerby MB, Chien R-L, ‘Increase of Separation Resolution through Field Enhancement in Microchips’, Electrophoresis. 2002 Oct; 23(20):3545-9.

2.     Kerby M, Chien R-L, ‘A Fluorogenic Assay Using Pressure-Driven Flow on a Microchip’
Electrophoresis. 2001 Oct; 22(18):3916-23.

1.     Chawla MS, Chen XJ, Cofer GP, Hedlund LW, Kerby MB, Ottoboni TB, Johnson GA. ‘Hyperpolarized 3He Microspheres as a Novel Vascular Signal Source for MRI’, Magn Reson Med. 2000 Mar;43(3):440-5.

He is a member of a Journal Editorial Board, Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening, since March 2003.

He is licensed as a professional chemical engineer (PE) in the state of California.