Saad Bhamla, Ph.D. Credit: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech.
What does a children’s toy have to do with malaria diagnostics? How about a barbecue lighter and a nucleic acid vaccine? Find out from Saad Bhamla during our 2024 Judith H. Greenberg Early Career Investigator Lecture. The lecture, “Fast and Frugal: Cells That Move Without ATP and Life-Saving Tools That Cost Pennies,” will take place on October 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Saad studies how single-celled organisms called ciliates use protein engines powered by calcium to achieve ultrafast motion. He’s uncovering the mechanics of these calcium structures, which differ from ATP-driven motors that are found in most life forms. His lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology is working to build synthetic versions of these protein engines that they can control using light. These calcium-based engines could be useful to design biohybrid cells capable of powering themselves using either calcium or ATP.
Another focus of Saad’s lab is frugal science—building accessible and affordable tools for global health applications. Saad has developed devices that cost less than a dollar each, including a paper centrifuge for malaria diagnostics inspired by a children’s toy, a hearing aid built with open electronics for presbycusis, and a nucleic acid vaccine delivery device inspired by a barbecue lighter. During his talk, Saad will discuss the challenges and successes in translating these devices for field studies and through startups for commercialization.
We hope that you’ll join us for this lecture, which is geared toward graduate and postdoctoral students and those early in their research careers. It will take place virtually via Zoom and in person on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. For more information on the lecture, including the research summary and a peek at one of the comics from Saad’s lab, visit our lecture webpage.