MinJun Kim

What they work on

1. Characterize how single adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids filled with single-stranded DNA, double-stranded DNA, or nothing deform as voltage pushes them through solid-state nanopores, with automated recapture for repeated measurements.
2. Trap single AAVs with a gold double-nanohole laser trap (SIBA) above a nanopore and use Bayesian machine learning on combined optical-electrical signals to classify each virus by its cargo.
3. Develop a platform that sorts AAVs in pre-purification mixtures as full, partial or empty by combining optical, DC nanopore and AC impedance sensing with isotachophoresis cleanup and nanopore nanosieves.
4. Classify particles with a U-net convolutional network plus a Bayesian deep neural network, and validate them against electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and qPCR using cGMP AAV benchmark samples.
5. Build a double-nanopore sensor that breaks open DNA-loaded liposomes in a silica pore, then traps and recaptures the released circular DNA at a silicon nitride pore to count empty, intact and fragmented loads.
6. Uncover how CRISPR/Cas enzymes cut composite nanomaterial reporters and read the cut patterns with solid-state nanopores and a deep neural network for multiplexed SARS-CoV-2 detection on a point-of-care device.
7. Design bacteria-inspired soft microrobots containing paramagnetic disks, heat-sensing polydiacetylene vesicles and light-responsive gold and silver nanoparticles, and model their swimming in mucus-like fluids with Kirchhoff rod theory.
8. Measure bacterial flagellar bending stiffness by reconstructing the 3D shapes of tethered flagella with subpixel image processing and modeling nearby fluid flow with regularized Stokeslets.
9. Model planar photolithography-made microswimmers with stochastic differential equations and design feedback controllers for path planning in saline, methylcellulose and synthetic mucus, individually and in swarms.
10. Fabricate 3D-printed magnetic modules that assemble and disassemble under one global magnetic field, and develop control and factory algorithms to build plugs, scaffolds and shapes in a prototype system.

More about the research

Why it matters

Gene therapy patients could benefit from sensors that tell whether each viral or liposome carrier actually holds its DNA, which could reduce under- or over-dosing. Such checks could also cut manufacturing waste and speed approval of treatments for rare genetic diseases while using only tiny samples. Nanopore readout of CRISPR assays could enable cheaper, faster point-of-care virus tests. Steerable microrobots and swimmers may eventually support targeted drug delivery, minimally invasive ear, nose and throat procedures, stent-related care and microscale manufacturing.

Known grants

From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.

Closest labs

The school

Southern Methodist University: 7 labs on PI Pages, $63M a year on research, 136 research doctorates a year.

More about Southern Methodist University

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