Current Lab Members

Brian D. Plouffe
PhD Candidate

Email: bplouffe@coe.neu.edu

Education

M.S., Chemical Engineering, 2007
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
B.S., Chemical Engineering, 2004
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI

Research
           
“Microfluidic Cell Separation Using Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles”

Metastases are a significant problem in cancer research, since metastasis from the primary tumor to distant organs causes 90% of cancer-related deaths, i.e. half-a-million people in the US. Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in whole blood demonstrates that there is a connection between the primary tumor and metastases.

I plan to develop a point-of-care, disposable microfluidic device capable of efficient and rapid isolation of rare CTCs. My approach hopes to provide a unique platform technology to detect cancer and capture circulating tumor cells. Moreover, this new microfluidic tool to capture CTCs could lead to the discovery of targets for further basic and clinical research.

I propose to integrate nanotechnology, biology and microfluidics to isolate CTCs from whole blood focusing, specifically, on breast cancer cells. In order to achieve this objective, I propose to (1) develop a method to enable selective selection of CTCs by nanoparticle labelling and then (2) develop a point-of-care, high-throughput microfluidic CTC capture technology utilizing the now magnetically label cells.

Publications

Journal Articles

B.D. Plouffe, T. Kniazeva, J.E. Mayer, Jr., S.K. Murthy, and V.L. Sales. “Development of Microfluidics as Endothelial Progenitor Cell Capture Technology for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering and Diagnostic Medicine.” FASEB Journal, 2009, 23, 3309-3314.

B.D. Plouffe, M.A. Brown, R.K. Iyer, M. Radisic, and S.K. Murthy. “Controlled Cellular Capture and Release of Cardiac Fibroblasts using Peptide-Modified Alginate Gels in Microfluidic Channels.” Lab on a Chip, 2009, 9, 1507-1510.

D.K. Nagesha, B.D. Plouffe, M. Phan, L.H. Lewis, S. Sridhar, and S.K. Murthy, “Functionalization-Induced Improvement of Magnetic Properties in Fe3O4 Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications.” Journal of Applied Physics, 2009, 105, 07B317.

B. D. Plouffe, M. Radisic, and S.K. Murthy. “Microfluidic Depletion of Endothelial Cells, Smooth Muscle Cells, and Fibroblasts from Heterogeneous Suspensions,” Lab on a Chip, 2008, 8, 462-472.

B.D. Plouffe, D. N. Njoka, J. Harris, J. Liao, N.K. Horick, M. Radisic, and S.K. Murthy. “Peptide-Mediated Selective Adhesion of Smooth Muscle and Endothelial Cells in Microfluidic Shear Flow,” Langmuir, 2007, 23, 5050-5055.

Book Chapters

R.K. Iyer, B. Plouffe, S.K. Murthy, and M. Radisic. "Microreactors for Cardiac Tissue Engineering," in Micro- and Nano-engineering of the Cell Microenvironment: Technologies and Applications, Ali Khademhosseini, Jeffrey Borenstein, M. Toner, and Shuichi Takayama, Eds.; Artech House Publishing: 2008.

Conference Proceedings

S.K. Murthy, B.D. Plouffe, and M. Radisic. “Surface Engineering in Microfluidic Devices for the Isolation of Smooth Muscle Cells and Endothelial Cells.” Society for Biomaterials Proceedings. (Presented on April 20, 2007; 2007 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.)

S.K. Murthy, B.D. Plouffe, and M. Radisic. “Surface Engineering in Microfluidic Devices for the Isolation of Smooth Muscle Cells and Endothelial Cells,” Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, 1004-P01-03. (presented on April 10, 2007; Spring 2007 National Meeting in San Francisco, CA).

Presentations

B.D. Plouffe, M.A. Brown, S.K. Murthy, and M. Radisic. “Controlled Cellular Capture and Release of Cardiac Fibroblasts using Peptide-Modified Alginate Gels,” Material Research Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2009.

B.D. Plouffe, R.S. DiPietro, D.K. Nagesha, L.H. Lewis, S.K. Murthy, and D. Heiman “Thermomagnetic Measurement of Magnetic Nanoparticle Size Distribution,” 11th Joint MMM-Intermag Conference, Washington D.C. January 18-22, 2010.

J.V. Green, B.D. Plouffe, M. Radisic, and S.K. Murthy. “Microfluidic Isolation of Stem Cells by Negative Selection Depletion.” 23rd International Symposium on Microscale Bioseparations, Boston, MA. February 4, 2009.

D.K. Nagesha, B.D. Plouffe, M. Phan, L.H. Lewis, S. Sridhar, and S.K. Murthy, “Functionalization-Induced Improvement of Technical Magnetic Properties in Fe3O4 Nanoparticles,” 53rd Annual Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, Austin TX. November 12, 2008.

B. D. Plouffe, T. Kniazeva, J.E. Mayer, S.K. Murthy, and V.L. Sales. “Development of Microfluidics as EPC Capture Technology for Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering and Diagnostic Medicine,” 2008 CIMIT Innovation Congress, Boston, MA, October 28-29, 2008.

B. D. Plouffe, M. Radisic,and S. K. Murthy. “Peptide-Mediated Selective Adhesion of Smooth Muscle Cells and Endothelial Cells in Microfluidic Shear Flow,” 7th Annual New England Science Symposium, Boston, MA. April 6, 2008.

B. D. Plouffe, M. Radisic,and S. K. Murthy. “Microfluidic Depletion of Endothelial Cells, Smooth Muscle Cells, and Fibroblasts from Heterogeneous Suspensions,” Northeastern Research and Scholarship Expo, Boston, MA. March 26, 2008. (Outstanding Graduate Poster Presentation Award)

B. D. Plouffe, M. Radisic, and S. K. Murthy. “Peptide-Mediated Selective Adhesion of Smooth Muscle Cells and Endothelial Cells in Microfluidic Shear Flow,” 2nd Annual Methods in Bioengineering Conference, Cambridge, MA. July 12, 2007.