Significant advances in modern technology have given us opportunities to explore and comprehend nature at a level of detail never dreamed of. To continue this fast-paced progress, the development of novel strategic methodologies to address complex scientific questions is imperative. Equipped with interdisciplinary approaches, our research focuses on developing novel analytical tools and sensors and exploiting their applications in the field of bioanalysis. In particular, we are interested in coupling the novel properties of various nanomaterials with conventional analytical techniques to develop:

1) amplification-by-polymerization in ultrasensitive DNA polymorphic site detection;

2) nanofeatures-facilitated mass spectrometric techniques in biomedical imaging and metabolite profiling; and

3) nanoparticle-amplified surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to monitor transmembrane activities of cell-penetrating peptides.

The successful outcomes of our research will introduce new means to monitor elementary biomolecular interactions with possible ramifications in single cell analysis.