Shawn M. Douglas, Ph.D.

Research

Our group develops new technologies for science and medicine by drawing inspiration and materials from disciplines including molecular & cellular biology, computer science, physics, and engineering. We create open-source software to support these efforts, and make our work accessible to the broadest possible audience using illustration, animation, and interactive media. One promising avenue that we are pursuing is to assemble DNA into very small (nanoscale) devices to function as medical therapies. For example, our devices may in the future be able to deliver drugs that are highly targeted to cancer cells, such as leukemia or lymphoma cells, by recognizing those cells specifically and killing them while leaving other noncancer cells intact. We have already built prototypes of such devices, and are working to establish their safety and efficacy in living organisms. We hope our efforts could one day establish a new paradigm for treating cancer with a combination of therapies, while avoiding the often devastating side effects.