Johnson and Team Earn New Awards to Advance Research Goals on the MSU SRC
August 12, 2025
Dr. Brian Johnson and his team have recently earned two awards to determine the commercial potential of two unique inventions related to advanced in vitro cell culture models. Johnson is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering and is Project Leader for Project 2 of the MSU Superfund Research Center.
The first award from the University Early-Stage Proof-of-Concept Fund known as the ADVANCE Grant Program sponsored by Michigan Economic Development Corporation will allow Johnson and his team to determine the technical and commercial feasibility of contactless thermal-driven convection as a novel means to induce fluid flow in high-throughput microplate microfluidic devices. Fluid flow is a key physiological parameter in blood, lymphatics, and other body systems, regulating endothelial shear stress, tissue oxygenation, and waste removal. Cell cultures lack many physiologically relevant features from their normal in vivo environment. Introducing flow to microphysiological cell culture models can be accomplished in several ways, such as adding pumps, incorporating hydraulic heads, or rocking the devices. However, these methods add complexity, decrease throughput, or interfere with analyses. The Johnson team has identified a novel solution that utilizes convection currents to create predictable, contactless, controlled flow within microplate-based wells and microfluidic devices. Under a provisional patent application, Johnson and his team have leveraged this phenomenon to induce fluid flow in purpose-built microplate-based devices in a contactless and throughput compatible manner.
The second grant from the Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Innovation Hub (MTRAC) for AgBio at MSU was awarded to Johnson and his team for their proposal, “Carbon Dioxide Laser Welding to Manufacture Transparent Microfluidic Devices.” MTRAC provides resources for translational research projects related to agriculture and biology with high commercial potential in one or more bio-related industries. The Johnson team sought to identify a replacement for a solvent bonding method used to bond clear plastic sheets to clear polystyrene stock in the manufacture of low-cost and tunable microfluidic devices. Their preliminary data demonstrate the utility of using a standard CO2 laser cutter to weld clear flat plastic sheets to clear flat stock without the use of adhesives. The Johnson lab’s need, rapid prototyping of cell culture devices, is just one application of this versatile and accessible approach. This developing technology is currently protected under a US provisional patent application that is being actively converted to a US patent application by MSU. The pending patent claims include a method of laser welding thermoplastics, agnostic of color using a CO2 laser for device manufacturing, The MTRAC grant will allow Johnson and his team to determine the domain of commercial applicability for this technology.
Both of these grants will further research goals on Project 2 of the MSU SRC which aims to bioengineer thyroid and liver microtissues and use them along with computational modeling to understand how Superfund-related chemicals cause toxicity. Johnson and his team also test chemicals and their mixtures for their ability to disrupt thyroid signaling, and then translate their findings to determine how chemical exposures might affect human populations. Together, these projects aim to support the shift away from animal testing toward human-derived in vitro models that is being prioritized by the NIH, FDA and EPA.
The first award from the University Early-Stage Proof-of-Concept Fund known as the ADVANCE Grant Program sponsored by Michigan Economic Development Corporation will allow Johnson and his team to determine the technical and commercial feasibility of contactless thermal-driven convection as a novel means to induce fluid flow in high-throughput microplate microfluidic devices. Fluid flow is a key physiological parameter in blood, lymphatics, and other body systems, regulating endothelial shear stress, tissue oxygenation, and waste removal. Cell cultures lack many physiologically relevant features from their normal in vivo environment. Introducing flow to microphysiological cell culture models can be accomplished in several ways, such as adding pumps, incorporating hydraulic heads, or rocking the devices. However, these methods add complexity, decrease throughput, or interfere with analyses. The Johnson team has identified a novel solution that utilizes convection currents to create predictable, contactless, controlled flow within microplate-based wells and microfluidic devices. Under a provisional patent application, Johnson and his team have leveraged this phenomenon to induce fluid flow in purpose-built microplate-based devices in a contactless and throughput compatible manner.
The second grant from the Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Innovation Hub (MTRAC) for AgBio at MSU was awarded to Johnson and his team for their proposal, “Carbon Dioxide Laser Welding to Manufacture Transparent Microfluidic Devices.” MTRAC provides resources for translational research projects related to agriculture and biology with high commercial potential in one or more bio-related industries. The Johnson team sought to identify a replacement for a solvent bonding method used to bond clear plastic sheets to clear polystyrene stock in the manufacture of low-cost and tunable microfluidic devices. Their preliminary data demonstrate the utility of using a standard CO2 laser cutter to weld clear flat plastic sheets to clear flat stock without the use of adhesives. The Johnson lab’s need, rapid prototyping of cell culture devices, is just one application of this versatile and accessible approach. This developing technology is currently protected under a US provisional patent application that is being actively converted to a US patent application by MSU. The pending patent claims include a method of laser welding thermoplastics, agnostic of color using a CO2 laser for device manufacturing, The MTRAC grant will allow Johnson and his team to determine the domain of commercial applicability for this technology.
Both of these grants will further research goals on Project 2 of the MSU SRC which aims to bioengineer thyroid and liver microtissues and use them along with computational modeling to understand how Superfund-related chemicals cause toxicity. Johnson and his team also test chemicals and their mixtures for their ability to disrupt thyroid signaling, and then translate their findings to determine how chemical exposures might affect human populations. Together, these projects aim to support the shift away from animal testing toward human-derived in vitro models that is being prioritized by the NIH, FDA and EPA.