We are interested in elastic and viscoelastic properties of and in cells and of vesicles as the simplest model system for a cell. Research activities in the group include theoretical considerations coupled to experimental activities with optical tweezers manipulating cellular organelles elsewhere and in-house experimental efforts to optically and hydrodynamically manipulate entire cells and vesicles. Our collaborators include colleagues at other departments of DTU, at University of Copenhagen, in the Blood Bank, University Hospital Copenhagen and CNR Milan and University of Pavia, Italy. In March 2017, my research activities moved to the section of Quantum Physics and Information Theory, to explore the possibilities of applying quantum technology in biological systems, and as of summer 2020, I joined DTU Health Technology, section for Magnetic Resonance, with the aim to combine optical trapping with quantum sensing technology.
Current students and staff:
Maria Niora PhD student, project on sensing with NV nanodiamonds and cells (2021-2023)
Fatemeh Kalantarifard Postdoc, equipment for sensing with optically trapped NV nanodiamonds (April 2021 - April 2023)
Alumni:
Aleks Preuss Hardvendel and Casper Natnoi Heldorf 3rd semester experimental project on uptake of nanodiamonds with single cells (fall 2020 + jan 2021)
Giovanni Finco Experimental project on optical trapping of and sensing with microdiamonds with NV centers (fall 2020)
Aimas Lund BSc thesis work to improve image analysis and acquisition of red blood cells, using machine learning (Spring 2020). Main advisor Tobias Gehring, DTU Physics
Benjamin Lundgreen Larsen BSc thesis work to construct an optical tweezers setup and investigate microdiamonds with NV centers (Spring 2019). Co-advised by Alexander Huck, DTU Physics
Adam Mark Roth-Zawadzki and Joakim Kryger-Baggesen BSc thesis work to combine a two-beam optical trap with optically detected magnetic resonance measurements on microdiamonds with NV centers (Spring 2019). Co-advised by Alexander Huck, DTU Physics
Jonathan Friis Schouenborg BSc thesis work to optimize an experimental setup and measure hydrodynamic deformability of red blood cells (Spring 2019).
Freja Høier BSc thesis work to investigate hydrodynamic stretching of (red blood) cells with advanced image analysis tools in PolyNano Demonstrator chip (Spring 2018). Co-advised by Rodolphe Marie, DTU Nanotech, Anders Nymark Christensen, DTU Compute, and Morten Hanefeld Dziegiel, Blood bank, University Hospital Copenhagen
Lise Aagesen MSc thesis work to investigate hydrodynamic stretching of (red blood) cells with advanced image analysis tools (Fall 2017). Co-advised by Rodolphe Marie, DTU Nanotech, Rasmus Reinhold Paulsen and Anders Nymark Christensen, DTU Compute, and Morten Hanefeld Dziegiel, Blood bank, University Hospital Copenhagen
Camilla Marie Nyborg BSc thesis work to hydrodynamically characterize the skin of a dogfish (shark) (Spring 2017)
Emil Christian Jensen BSc thesis work to investigate hydrodynamic resistance near structured surfaces/shark skin (Fall 2016)
Tony B Rungling MSc thesis work to investigate deformability of red and white blood cells by hydrodynamic shear stress (Fall 2016). Co-advised by Rodolphe Marie (DTU Nanotech), Morten Dziegiel (Blood bank), Anders Kristensen (DTU Nanotech)
Katrine Feld BSc thesis work to characterize dermal denticles (DD) in (mainly) Greenland shark by SEM and the flow around the DD by micro-PIV(Spring 2016)
Anne Noer Kolborg BSc thesis work to simulate and measure by micro-PIV the flow around dermal denticles from different shark species (Spring 2016)(co-advised by Mirko Salewski)
Ida Kirstine Sibbern Landvad Jensen BSc thesis work on measurements of red blood cell elasticity and deformability (Spring 2016)(co-advised by Morten Dziegiel, University Hospital Copenhagen, and Rodolphe Marie, DTU Nanotech)
Marta Espina Palanco PhD student, research on biosensors and optical trapping of cells and vesicles. Coadvised by Claus Hélix-Nielsen. Since April 2015, handed in thesis August 1st 2016
Alexander T. Kristensson and William F. Møller - 3rd semester project students, investigated numerical models for the optical forces on red blood cells (Fall 2015)
Henrik Thirstrup - masters thesis student, applied hydrodynamic forces to stretch red blood cells (Fall 2015) (coadvised by Rodolphe Marie, DTU Nanotech and Morten Dziegiel, University Hospital Copenhagen)
Mustafa Zyad Khalil Al-Hamdani and Ragavan Pathanchalinathan - bachelor thesis students, applied optical forces to stretch and manipulate red blood cells from donors and patients (summer 2015)(coadvised by Michael Bache, DTU Nanotech and Morten Dziegiel, University Hospital Copenhagen)
Katrine Engholm Villumsen did her bachelor thesis on models for sap translocation in plants (spring 2015) (main advisor Kaare Hartvig Jensen)
Thomas Erik Bohn Smitshuysen and Emil Christian Jensen did a 4th semester project on structure of and flow over skin from different shark species (spring 2015)
Nicolai Hagen did an 8th semester project, constructing flow chambers and investigating flow over skin from different shark species (spring 2015)
Lea Rasmussen and Zainab Zohori Bahrami did their bachelor thesis on stretching of red blood cells (spring 2015) (coadvised by Michael Bache, DTU Nanotech and Morten Dziegiel, University Hospital Copenhagen)
Katrine Sejling Haaning did her bachelor thesis (fall 2014), investigated glandular trichomes (advised by Kaare Hartvig Jensen)
Emil Wrisberg and Morten Jürgensen 3rd semester project students (fall 2014), investigated osmotically driven transport close to a semi-permeable membrane, by use of micro-PIV
Gitte Frederiksen - masters thesis student (spring 2014), investigated osmotically driven transport and boundary layers close to a semi-permeable membrane, by use of micro-PIV and fluorescence microscopy (coadvised by Kaare Hartvig Jensen)
Sandra Hartvich Lorentzen - masters thesis student (spring 2014), investigated osmotically driven transport and boundary layers close to a semi-permeable membrane, by use of micro-PIV and fluorescence microscopy (coadvised by Kaare Hartvig Jensen)
Hector Guinon Catalan - masters thesis student (fall 2013), manipulated vesicles and worked on image analysis of these in the optical stretcher setup; in addition suggested several improvements to the actual experimental setup
Maria Khoury Arvelo - worked as an H. C. Ørsted postdoctoral fellow for one year in the group. Contributed with initial studies of vesicles in the optical stretcher setup, and initiated a new version of the setup based on embedded waveguides and clean-room fabrication
Louise Sejling Haaning - did her masters thesis project on osmotic transport in hollow fiber membranes (coadvised by Kaare Hartvig Jensen and Tomas Bohr)
Louise Laub Busk - did her bachelor project on the optical stretcher, stretching vesicles
Hans Christian Finch Jensen - did his masters thesis project on constructing and testing the optical stretcher with acoustophoretic prefocusing
Mario Fischer - did his Ph.D. (degree from University of Copenhagen) on the simultaneous calibration of optical tweezers trapping within an unknown viscoelastic medium, and the determination of the viscoelastic properties of the medium