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CBM2 Vision
CBM2 is a multi-institutional Center (The University of Kansas, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Louisiana State University, Wake Forest Medical School, and The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill), and is supported by the Biotechnology Resource Center mechanism from the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; NIBIB).
CBM2 vision is to design, manufacture, and deliver new tools to the biomedical community that utilize liquid biopsies for disease detection and management — Precision Medicine. Our vision is being realized through the delivery of innovative and fully automated mixed-scale systems programmed for different disease states.
Core Technologies
- CBM2 has built a strong infrastructure to support our Core Technologies and your ideas.
- CBM2 has expertise across many different disciplines (i.e., engineering, medicine, basic sciences).
- CBM2 partnering institutions provide collaboration and service opportunities for a wide range of researchers from academic, governmental, and industrial settings.
- Designing,and fabricating plastic-based microfluidic and nanofluidic devices for a broad range of biomedical areas.
- Developing innovative tools for the analysis of liquid biopsy markers to enableprecision medicine.
Plastic Microfluidics and Nanofluidics
- New tools are necessary for the analysis of liquid biopsy markers to allow for better patient outcomes.
- In vitro diagnostics is a growing area in the medical field, especially with the advent of precision medicine.
- New technologies evolving from CBM2 seek to deliver point of care devices for the in vitro diagnostics.
Key advantages of our Core Technologies are:
- Thermoplastic devices: manufacturing in a high-scale production mode at low cost to translate devices into the in vitro diagnostic area.
- Integrated systems that can fully automate the sample processing pipeline, especially when dealing with liquid biopsy samples.
- Robust methods to assemble cover plates to devices with high process yield rates for both microfluidic and nanofluidic devices.
- A wealth of experiences in modifying the chemical properties of plastic devices to accommodate applications in biology, medicine, and other areas.
Employment Opportunities
Research Associate
The Liquid Biopsy/Biomedical Engineering Core at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) seeks to fill a position of a Research Associate. This person will analyze liquid biopsy markers, which consist of circulating tumor cells, circulating leukemia cells, extracellular vesicles, and cell free DNA, secured from biological fluidic such as blood, plasma etc. The successful candidate will work alongside other scientists to maintain operation of the Core. Candidates must have a Master’s Degree in disciplines such as the physical sciences or engineering. Ph.D. preferred.
Process Engineer
The KU Department of Chemistry seeks to fill the postion of Process Engineer. The successful candidate will focus on the design and fabrication of microstructures and nanostructures in a variety of materials, including silicon and plastics. Knowledge in the areas of photolithography, wet/dry etching, thin film deposition, and cleanroom operation are required.
CBM2 Develops Innovative Test for COVID-19
What's New?
CBMM paper, ‘Assessing Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes Using Extracellular Vesicles’ mRNA’, was recently chosen as the supplemental cover for Analytical Chemistry. Read more here.
CBMM publishes new paper in Electroanalysis, “In-plane Extended Nano-coulter Counter (XnCC) for the Label-free Electrical Detection of Biological Particles”, dedicated to the late professor Theodore Kuwana (TK) of the University of Kansas. Kuwana mentored CBMM director, Dr. Steve Soper.
CBMM Director, Dr. Steve Soper, recently took his graduate-level class CHEM 980 to the University of Kansas cleanroom facilities to get hands-on learning with several CBMM graduate researchers.
CBMM hosted its annual All-Hands & EAC meetings at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, MO. With over 50 attendees and 30 posters: this meeting allows the various collaborators of CBMM to meet in person to discuss the next steps for the Center and the progress made over the past year.
CBMM makes headlines
Director, Dr. Steven Soper, was interviewed by Isabella Ferrentino of the Kansas City Magazine in January 2023. “The University of Kansas has taken revolutionary steps toward cancer and stroke-related research”.
Read More.
The Center of BioModular Multiscale Systems for Precision Medicine (CBMM) recently hosted the 2022 NCI IMAT PI Meeting, November 30 — December 2
16 KU Engineering Faculty Members Among Most Cited Researchers in the World
Sixteen faculty members at the University of Kansas School of Engineering are among the top 2% of scientists worldwide cited by others in research publications, according to a study from Stanford University. Read More
Cancer research is delayed due to pandemic shutdown. Group’s technology focus expands to include work on SARS-CoV-2. Read More.
CBM2 commissions new injection compression molding machine for the high-scale production of both micro- and nanostructures in plastics. The machine is available to assist outside users for medium-scale production of devices.
Collaborative & Service Projects
The Center seeks to disseminate its Core Technologies into the research and clinical domains. The Center can accomplish this through a variety of mechanisms and is enthusiastic to discuss this with you. In particular, we can support efforts in such areas as liquid biopsy analyses, and designing and building microfluidic and nanofluidic devices for a variety of application areas.
Visiting Scholar Program
CBM2 invites researchers (national and international) at all levels and interested in learning more about our core competencies, which include plastic-based microfluidics/nanofluidics and liquid biopsies, to visit our laboratories for extended periods-of-time as part of our visiting scholar program. Due to the geographical distribution of our Center, visiting scholars can select to visit UNC-Chapel Hill, Louisiana State University, or the University of Kansas (the Medical Center or the Lawrence campus).
During your stay, you can directly participate in experiments that match your learning needs. The length of stay is entirely up to the visiting scholar; we have had visiting scholars that have stayed over the summer months or even an entire year. If you are interested, please click on the “Read More” tab below to learn more about this program.
Precision Medicine
The "Precision Medicine" initiative was announced by President Obama in his January 20th, 2016 State of the Union address. President Obama said he wanted the United States to "lead a new era of medicine, one that delivers the right treatment at the right time."
Rather than the current one-size-fits-all approach, drugs will be tailored to individuals allowing doctors to target the precise form a disease takes in any individual and avoid administering drugs that may be ineffective or even harmful.
CBM2 is making timely and important discoveries for the Precision Medicine initiative by developing state-of-the-art tools that can transition quickly into the clinic to provide diagnostic and prognostic information currently inaccessible to the patient due to limitations in current testing platforms.