Details
MAE Seminar: From Sequence to Function: Engineering Molecular Devices for Monitoring Living Systems
Date: September 8, 2026
Time: 12:50 PM Location: MAE-A 303
Dr. Jing Pan
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
University of Florida
Abstract
Biomolecules are traditionally viewed as biology’s information carriers, but they are fundamentally nanoscale physical systems that encode mechanical and chemical functions. This duality makes them a uniquely programmable engineering substrate. Advances in molecular synthesis, sequencing, and design now let us write sequence-level rules that specify structure, kinetics, and dynamics. This enables a new engineering paradigm of building functional molecular machines for applications spanning basic biomedical research, healthcare, and national defense. In this talk, I will present our research platform for developing functional biomolecular nanosystems. First, I will discuss AI-assisted protein design and next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based high-throughput screening for developing molecular binders. These biorecognition elements serve as basic building blocks for complex molecular systems. Second, I will present our recent work leveraging molecular thermodynamics, microscale heat and mass transport, and rational sequence design to develop a suite of tools for continuous biosensing. I will highlight photothermal recycling, an approach that addresses the speed-sensitivity trade-off in biosensing by thermally driving biomolecular binders in situ to enable continuous monitoring in biological systems where conventional sensors saturate or foul. Finally, I will introduce our current work integrating these molecular tools into microphysiological systems to close the loop between biosensing, tissue dynamics, and biological control, with applications in real-time clinical monitoring, biomanufacturing process analytics, and high-fidelity human-on-a-chip models. Together, this work advances the engineering science of molecular machines that continuously interface with living systems.
Biography
Jing Pan is an assistant professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, where he worked on engineering DNA-based molecular motors. He completed his postdoctoral training at Stanford University, designing DNA molecular switches for biomedical applications. His lab at UF engineers biomolecules as nanoscale machines, with a focus on continuous biochemical sensing for healthcare and life science research. He is the recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the NIGMS MIRA Award, the NIBIB R21 Trailblazer Award, and the ASME Rising Star in Mechanical Engineering Award.
Faculty Host: Dr. Hugh Fan