David Beebe

About

David Beebe is the John D. MacArthur Professor and Claude Bernard Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research aims for a holistic approach to understanding cell behavior by integrating in vitro cellular scale engineering to recapitulate important in vivo microenvironmental characteristics. This approach provides biological insights, aids in diagnosis and treatment, and enhances discovery. His work includes exploring the role of microfluidics in biomedical research and developing personalized in vitro cancer models to predict therapeutic responses. Additionally, he has contributed to understanding innate immune cell responses to host-parasite interactions within human intestinal microphysiological systems.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Materials science
• Biology
• Nanotechnology
• Cancer research
• Cell biology
• Immunology
• Telecommunications
• Environmental science
• Microbiology

Selected publications

• A role for microfluidic systems in precision medicine

  Nature Communications · 2022 · 198 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Precision oncology continues to challenge the "one-size-fits-all" dogma. Under the precision oncology banner, cancer patients are screened for molecular tumor alterations that predict treatment response, ideally leading to optimal treatments. Functional assays that directly evaluate treatment efficacy on the patient's cells offer an alternative and complementary tool to improve the accuracy of precision oncology. Unfortunately, traditional Petri dish-based assays overlook much tumor complexity,…

  DOI

• Microfluidic tumor-on-a-chip model to evaluate the role of tumor environmental stress on NK cell exhaustion

  Science Advances · 2021 · 156 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Solid tumors generate a suppressive environment that imposes an overwhelming burden on the immune system. Nutrient depletion, waste product accumulation, hypoxia, and pH acidification severely compromise the capacity of effector immune cells such as T and natural killer (NK) cells to destroy cancer cells. However, the specific molecular mechanisms driving immune suppression, as well as the capacity of immune cells to adapt to the suppressive environment, are not completely understood. Thus, here…

  DOI

• Breast Fibroblasts and ECM Components Modulate Breast Cancer Cell Migration through the Secretion of MMPs in a 3D Microfluidic Co-Culture Model

  Cancers · 2020 · 97 citations

  The extracellular matrix (ECM) composition greatly influences cancer progression, leading to differential invasion, migration, and metastatic potential. In breast cancer, ECM components, such as fibroblasts and ECM proteins, have the potential to alter cancer cell migration. However, the lack of in vitro migration models that can vary ECM composition limits our knowledge of how specific ECM components contribute to cancer progression. Here, a microfluidic model was used to study the effect of 3D…

  DOI

• Under oil open-channel microfluidics empowered by exclusive liquid repellency

  Science Advances · 2020 · 59 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Recently, the functionality of under oil open microfluidics was expanded from droplet-based operations to include lateral flow in under oil aqueous channels. However, the resolution of the under oil fluidic channels reported so far is still far from comparable with that of closed-channel microfluidics (millimeters versus micrometers). Here, enabled by exclusive liquid repellency and an under oil sweep technique, open microchannels can now be prepared under oil (rather than in air), which shrinks…

  DOI

• Immune Cell Paracrine Signaling Drives the Neutrophil Response to A. fumigatus in an Infection-on-a-Chip Model

  Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering · 2020 · 22 citations

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R21CA122672

  NIH · $344k · 2010

• Cancer Center Administration

  NIH · $99.8M · 1997–2028

• NIH Grant R01CA185251

  NIH · $2.9M · 2019

Frequent coauthors

• Joshua M. Lang

  146 shared

• Melissa C. Skala

  Morgridge Institute for Research

  137 shared

• José M. Ayuso

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  133 shared

• Erwin Berthier

  University of Washington

  108 shared

• Marı́a Virumbrales-Muñoz

  University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center

  99 shared

• Scott M. Berry

  University of Kentucky

  90 shared

• Kyung E. Sung

  United States Food and Drug Administration

  79 shared

• David J. Guckenberger

  70 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Pathology

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1990

• M.D., Medicine

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1985

• B.S., Biology

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1981

Similar researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Rudolph C. Johnsonh-65
• Wei Huangh-62
• Igor Slukvinh-47