Yitshak Zohar

Dr. Yitshak Zohar Ph.D., is Professor of Aerospace-Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and the BIO5 Institute. He received a B.S. and M.S. from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. Dr. Zohar was honored with the Fellow - The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2003; and in 2007, the University of Arizona Technology Innovation Award. Dr. Zohar's research interests are in understand the process of Cell Receptor and Surface Ligand density effects in dynamic states of adhering circulating tumor cells and the creation of a high performance microsystem for isolating circulating tumor cells. With this mission, Dr. Zohar focuses on the development of micro/nanotechnology and fabrication of microfluidic devices for biochemical/medical applications. He has developed novel surface-chemistry techniques that enable selective manipulation of surface properties of fluidic microchannels and nanoparticles. Further developing in ‘smart’ nanoparticles, with encapsulated anti-cancer drug in their core and targeting ligands on their surface, designed to specifically destroy CTCs in vivo in effort to eradicate the cancer disease is taking place. Other work being performed by the Zohar laboratory includes the controlled dissociation of fresh brain tissue into viable neurons suitable for subsequent cell culture utilizing microfluidic systems; the investigation of pollen-tube/ovule interaction, particularly the attraction and repulsion signaling processes, using a microchannel-based assay; and protein-fiber formation in microfluidic devices.