Christopher Easley, PhD
Short Bio
Christopher J. Easley is currently the C. Dent Williams Professor and Associate Department Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Auburn University. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry at Mississippi State University in 2002 and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 2006, under training from Prof. James P. Landers. His postdoctoral training was provided by Prof. David W. Piston at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. He began his independent career at Auburn in 2008 and was promoted to full professor in 2018, where he teaches from fundamental courses through graduate level bioanalytical courses. Prof. Easley is currently the Vice President of the AES Electrophoresis Society, an Advisory Board member at the journal Analytical Methods, and a board member of the Boshell Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Research Program at Auburn University. He holds multiple U.S. patents based on biosensing and microfluidics, and he was awarded the 2019 Mid-Career Achievement Award by the AES Electrophoresis Society and the 2020 COSAM Dean's Research Award at Auburn. The Easley laboratory has focused their customized analytical tools on real-world applications in clinical biosensing as well as on fundamental understanding of the dynamic function of adipose tissue, which is of paramount importance in diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.
Education
PhD University of Virginia 2006
BS Mississippi State University 2002
Innovation
Fast, Tiny, Bioanalytical Tools
The Easley laboratory is focused on the development of novel microanalytical techniques that allow us to perform unique experiments on biological systems. We are developing microfluidic methods and accompanying small-volume biochemical assays to study secretions from small numbers of cells in the form of intact, primary tissue. We are interested in the consequences of cellular architecture and intercellular connections in tissue-level communication, and we study these effects using new microfluidic methods and customized small-volume (picoliter to nanoliter) assays developed by our lab members.
Debilitating conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome are fundamentally linked to the endocrine system, and our laboratory studies adipose tissue (fat) and its dynamic endocrine functions. Since it is now understood that adipose tissue is an active endocrine organ, we are using our custom microfluidics to capture and measure secretions from both islets and primary adipocytes at high temporal resolution. These methods are helping to improve our currently limited understanding of dynamic small-molecule and hormone secretion from the tissues, the links of secretory function to tissue-level connectivity, and the interplay between the two tissue types.
Another major focus in our lab is to develop biosensors. We utilize DNA-analyte conjugates, DNA-antibody conjugates, and DNA aptamers in proximity-based sensing approaches, allowing highly sensitive and selective detection of protein and small-molecule analytes from small volumes of sample with a simplified workflow. Depending on the application, we use various readouts to accomplish the measurements, including standard fluorescence, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), custom thermofluorimetric methods (TFA), and electrochemical sensing with square-wave voltammetry (SWV). These unique measurements not only help with sensing on microfluidic devices but are also suitable for clinical readouts in human blood.
In all of our research projects, we take advantage of state-of-the-art 3D CAD design and 3D printing to customize our tools and even directly print microfluidic and micropneumatic systems.
Overall, research in our laboratory spans several scientific disciplines, from fundamental analytical chemistry to molecular and cellular biology, as well as electrical circuit and instrument design.
