Erkin Şeker

About

Dr. Erkin Şeker is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Davis. His research focuses on understanding and controlling nanostructured material properties and their interaction with biological systems to develop effective biomedical tools for both basic and clinical applications. He leads the Şeker Lab, which engineers high-throughput miniaturized screening platforms to study nanoscale material properties and their impact on electrical, biochemical, optical, and biological properties. His work aims to create miniature drug delivery platforms, biosensors, multifunctional neural interfaces, and organ-on-a-chip platforms, contributing to advancements in bio, agriculture, and health technologies, as well as photonic and electronic devices, nanoscale electronics and photonics, and biosensing, biophotonics, and electronics.

Research topics

• Immunology
• Cell biology
• Biology
• Biochemistry
• Neuroscience

Selected publications

• A primary neural cell culture model to study neuron, astrocyte, and microglia interactions in neuroinflammation

  Journal of Neuroinflammation · 2020 · 242 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Interactions between neurons, astrocytes, and microglia critically influence neuroinflammatory responses to insult in the central nervous system. In vitro astrocyte and microglia cultures are powerful tools to study specific molecular pathways involved in neuroinflammation; however, in order to better understand the influence of cellular crosstalk on neuroinflammation, new multicellular culture models are required. METHODS: Primary cortical cells taken from neonatal rats were culture…

  DOI

• Interfacing with the Brain: How Nanotechnology Can Contribute

  ACS Nano · 2025-03-10 · 54 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Interfacing artificial devices with the human brain is the central goal of neurotechnology. Yet, our imaginations are often limited by currently available paradigms and technologies. Suggestions for brain-machine interfaces have changed over time, along with the available technology. Mechanical levers and cable winches were used to move parts of the brain during the mechanical age. Sophisticated electronic wiring and remote control have arisen during the electronic age, ultimately leading to plu…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Interplay of Effective Surface Area, Mass Transport, and Electrochemical Features in Nanoporous Nucleic Acid Sensors

  Analytical Chemistry · 2020-06-30 · 30 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Electrochemical biosensors transduce biochemical events (e.g., DNA hybridization) to electrical signals and can be readily interfaced with electronic instrumentation for portability. Nanostructuring the working electrode enhances sensor performance via augmented effective surface area that increases the capture probability of an analyte. However, increasing the effective surface area via thicker nanostructured electrodes hinders the analyte's permeation into the nanostructured volume and limits…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Influence of microchannel geometry on device performance and electrophysiological recording fidelity during long-term studies of connected neural populations

  Lab on a Chip · 2022-01-01 · 19 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  This study examines the role of microchannel geometry on the long-term performance of compartmentalized microfluidic neural cell culture platforms and provides general design rules for different experimental objectives.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Primary cortical cell tri-culture to study effects of amyloid-β on microglia function and neuroinflammatory response

  Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · 2024-11-05 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Microglia play a critical role in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, where alterations in microglial function may result in pathogenic amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation, chronic neuroinflammation, and deleterious effects on neuronal function. However, studying these complex factors in vivo, where numerous confounding processes exist, is challenging, and until recently, in vitro models have not allowed sustained culture of critical cell types in the same culture. OBJE…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Martin L. Yarmush

  Shriners Hospitals for Children - Boston

  86 shared

• Wei‐Chuan Shih

  University of Houston

  37 shared

• Keith J. Stine

  University of Missouri–St. Louis

  37 shared

• Mingwei Chen

  Johns Hopkins University

  36 shared

• Prachi Patel

  Northwestern University

  36 shared

• Pabitra K. Nayak

  Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

  36 shared

• J. Eckert

  Austrian Academy of Sciences

  36 shared

• Yi Ding

  Ruijin Hospital

  36 shared

Education

• PhD, Electrical Engineering

  University of Virginia

  2007

• MS, Electrical Engineering

  University of Virginia

  2004

• BS, Electrical Engineering

  Virginia Tech

  2002

Awards & honors

• UC Davis Awards Top Honor for Graduate Teaching to Erkin Şek…

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