معرفی
Jed Macosko is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Wake Forest University, leading the Macosko-Holzwarth laboratory. His research spans biophysics, cancer mechanics, and educational technology development, with significant external funding securing his lab's operations.
His academic journey began with a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed postdoctoral research under Prof. Carlos Bustamante (Howard Hughes Medical Investigator) and Prof. David Keller, and later collaborated with Nobel laureate Kary Mullis at a biotech startup.
Macosko's research focuses on the load-dependence of molecular motors (particularly kinesin-1), cooperative motor behavior in cargo transport, and mechanical properties of cancer cells. His lab develops advanced methods to measure intracellular viscoelastic moduli using GFP-labeled peroxisome tracking and has created computational models like hidden Markov variational Bayes systems for particle track analysis. He actively investigates cancer cell migration through extracellular matrices and develops 3D collagen environments with stiffness gradients.
His lab maintains extensive collaborations with Profs. Keith Bonin and Martin Guthold on drug discovery platforms, and with Dr. A. Daniel Johnson on educational technologies for teaching big data and virtual reality. Current funding supports projects involving undergraduate researchers studying collagen gels and cell migration mechanics.
The Macosko-Holzwarth lab operates as an interdisciplinary team including PhD candidates, undergraduate researchers, and cross-departmental collaborators. They maintain active partnerships with Biology and Engineering departments while developing biotech applications from their patented research on cellular mechanics.
