Macromolecular Science
and Engineering Center

  • Jeorg Lahann
  • Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Dpeartment of Biomedical Engineering
  • Department of Materials Science & Engineering
  • Macromolecular Science & Engineering Center
  • 3414 G. G. Brown, 2300 Hayward Street
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136

Short Biosketch

Joerg Lahann received a Ph.D. from the RWTH Aachen, Germany in Macromolecular Chemistry and joined the University of Michigan in 2003; after a postdoctoral stay with Bob Langer in MIT. He has been selected by Technology Review magazine as one of the top 100 young innovators with the greatest potential to have an impact on technology in the 21st century. Recently, he has been recognized by Midwest Research University Network as one of the top 20 life sciences researches in the Mid West. He is also a recipient of the 2006 DOD Idea award given for innovative research that could ultimately lead to major advancements related to breast cancer. In 2004, he was awarded a NSF-CAREER award and his postdoctoral work on switchable surfaces (with Bob Langer at MIT) was recognized among the top research highlights in 2003 (C&EN News). In 2006, Lahann was one of the finalists of the NIH Director's Pioneer award, the highest prize given to individuals by the National Institutes of Health. Lahann published more than 45 publications in a wide spectrum of scientific journals as well as 19 patents and patent applications. (Source: Bio2006, Chicago, http://www.ibio.org/20peopleweb/ with modification)

Current Research

Current research interest in the Lahann Lab (15 memebers) is focused on the developmentof active, multi-functional biointerfaces, which are applicable to a range of biomedical applications. There are three main research thrusts: (1) Switchable Surfaces that can reversibly switch properties in response to an external stimulus; i.e. they can switch from water-attracting to water-repelling with the application of a weak electric field. (2) Biphasic Nanocolloids can be prepared by side-by-side dual capillaries to expose two distinct parallel polymer solutions to an electric field simultaneously. The individual phases can be independently loaded with biomolecules or selectively surface-modified. (3) Advanced Thin-Film Polymers made by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have great potential for biomimetic and spatially directed surface engineering. Reactive coatings are compatible with soft lithographic processes, allowing for patterning of proteins, DNA, cytokines and mammalian cells. Research in the Lahann group is currently supported by NIH, DOD, NSF DMR, NSF MRI, University of Michigan (GAP fund) and several companies.

List of Recent and Top Cited Publications

  1. J. Lahann, H. Hšcker, R. Langer, "Synthesis of Amino[2.2]paracyclophanes-Beneficial Monomers for Bioactive Coating of Medical Implant Materials" Angew. Chem. 40, 726-728 (2001)
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  2. J. Lahann, I.S. Choi, J. Lee, K. Jensen, R. Langer, "A New Method Toward Micro-Engineered Surfaces Based on Reactive Coating" Angew. Chem. 40, 3166-3169 (2001)
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  3. J. Lahann, S. Mitragotri, T. Tran, H. Kaido, J. Sundaran, S. Hoffer, G. A. Somorjai, R. Langer, "A Reversibly Switching Surface" Science 299, 371-374 (2003)
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  4. K. Suh, R. Langer, J. Lahann, "A Novel Photodefinable Reactive Polymer Coating And Its Use For Microfabrication Of Hydrogel Elements" Advanced Materials 16, 1401 (2004)
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  5. K.-H. Roh, D.C. Martin, J. Lahann, "Biphasic Janus Particles With Nanoscale Anisotropy" Nature Materials 4, 759-763 2005
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  6. H. -Y. Chen, Y. Elkasabi, J. Lahann, "Surface Modification of Confined Microgeometries via Vapor-Deposited Polymer Coatings" JACS 128 (1), 374-380 (2006)
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  7. Y. Elkasabi, H.-Y. Chen, J. Lahann, "Multi-Potent Polymer Coatings Based On Chemical Vapor Deposition Co-Polymerization" Advanced Materials 18, 1521-1526 (2006)
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  8. H. Nandivada, H.-Y. Chen and J. Lahann, "Reactive Polymer Coatings That 'Click'" Angew. Chem. 45 (20), 3360-3363 (2006)
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  9. K.-H. Roh, D. C. Martin, J. Lahann, "Triphasic Nanocolloids" JACS 128 (21), 6796-6797 (2006)
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Teaching