Precision Biosystems Laboratory

Education

  • Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007
  • M.S.M.E., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003
  • B.S.M.E., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2001

Background

 Dr. Craig Forest joined the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in August 2008. Since then he has established a research program focused on the creation and application of miniaturized, high-throughput robotic instrumentation to advance biomolecular science, along with the fundamental engineering that makes such instrumentation possible. Dr. Forest’s laboratory works at the intersection of bioMEMS, machine design, signal processing, optics, and manufacturing at the frontiers of the emerging bio-nano field. The development of instruments that can load, manipulate, and measure many biological samples at the resolution of single cells simultaneously with better accuracy and reliability than current approaches opens the door to essential, comprehensive biological system studies.


“New directions in science are launched by new tools much more often than by new concepts. The effect of a concept-driven revolution is to explain old things in new ways. The effect of a tool-driven revolution is to discover new things that have to be explained.” – Imagined Worlds, Freeman Dyson

Dr. Forest was promoted to full Professor in 2019.

Research

  • Neuroengineering tools and robotics, ultra-high throughput genomics and molecular measurement instrumentation; 3-D microfabrication and bioMEMS technologies for neuroscience and genomics applications; and micro-lenslet arrays

In the course of the past 4.5 years, the instruments developed in the Forest laboratory have led to the genesis of a new field of intracellular in vivo robotics for neuroscience, a new virus detector that is a 10-100x improvement over pre-existing technologies, a device for personalizing drug dosage to prevent heart attacks, and a parallellized genome-engineering technique. Fundamental engineering advancements have been made in microfabrication, modeling flow of photons and fluids, and neuron identification within the milieu of the living brain. These instruments, and the discoveries they enable, are unlocking new frontiers in neuroscience and genetic science.

  • Georgia Tech Class of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award (2013)
  • Georgia Tech Class of 1934 Outstanding Innovative Use of Education Technology Award (with co-awardees Prof. Thad Starner and Clint Zeagler) (2013)
  • Engineer of the Year in Education for the state of Georgia (2013)
  • Lockheed-Martin Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award (2012)
  • Georgia Tech Research Corporation Undergraduate Innovation Impact Award (2011)
  • Georgia Tech Institute for BioEngineering and BioSciences Junior Faculty Award (2010)
  • Young Scientist Award at 20th International Symposium on Microscale Bioseparations (2006)

Representative Publications

  • C.R. Phaneuf, N. Pak, C.R. Forest, Modeling radiative heating of liquids in microchip reaction chambers, Sensors and Actuators: A. Physical, Vol. 167(2), p. 531-536, Feb 2011.
  • N. Pak, M. Dergance, M. Emerick, E. Gagnon, C.R. Forest, An Instrument For Controlled, Automated, Continuous Production of Micrometer Scale Fused Silica Pipettes, ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 133(6), 061006, Jun 2011.
  • M. Li, D. Ku, C.R. Forest, Microfluidic system for simultaneous optical measurement of platelet aggregation at multiple shear rates in whole blood, Lab on a Chip, Vol. 12, p. 1355-1362, Feb 2012.
  • N. Pak, C. Saunders, C.R. Phaneuf, C.R. Forest, Plug-and-play infrared laser-mediated PCR in a microfluidic chip, Biomedical Microdevices. Vol. 14(2), p. 427-433, Apr 2012.
  • S. Kodandaramaiah, G. Franzesi, B. Chow, E. Boyden, C.R. Forest, Automated whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology of neurons in vivo, Nature Methods. Vol 9, p. 585–587, May 2012.
  • N. Hotaling, B.B. Fasse, F. Bost, C. Hermann, C.R. Forest, A quantitative analysis of the effects of a multi-disciplinaryengineering capstone design course, Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 101(4), p. 630-656, Oct 2012.
  • I.F Akyildiz, F. Fekri, C.R Forest, B. Hammer, R. Sivakumar, MONACO: Fundamentals of Molecular Nano-Communication Networks (Invited Paper), IEEE Wireless Communications, Vol. 19(5), p. 12-18, Oct 2012.
  • C.R. Phaneuf, K. Oh, N. Pak, D.C. Saunders, C. Conrardy, J. Landers, S. Tong, C.R. Forest, Sensitive, microliter PCR with consensus degenerate primers for Epstein Barr virus, Biomedical Microdevices, Vol. 14(6), p. 1-11, Oct 2012.
  • D.C. Saunders, G.L. Holst, C.R. Phaneuf, N. Pak, M. Marchese, N. Sondej, M. McKinnon, C.R. Forest, Rapid, quantitative, reverse transcription PCR in a polymer microfluidic chip, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Vol. 44, p. 222-228, June 2013.