J. Lawrence Wilson Professor of Engineering
Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Notre Dame
B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Rochester
Michael R. King is the J. Lawrence Wilson Professor and Department Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Previously he was the Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor at Cornell University. He completed a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Notre Dame and postdoctoral training in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He has written textbooks on the subjects of statistical methods and microchannel flows, and has received several awards including the NSF CAREER Award, Outstanding Research Awards from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Clinical Chemistry, and was a James D. Watson Investigator of New York State. King is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, and serves as Vice President of the International Society of Bionic Engineering. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, an official journal of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and serves as the Chair-Elect of the Biomedical Engineering Council of Chairs.
The King Lab works at the interface between Cellular Engineering, Drug Delivery, and Nanotechnology. They employ tools and concepts from engineering to understand biomedically important processes that occur in the bloodstream, including cancer metastasis, inflammation, and thrombosis. They have found that tumor cells in the circulation can mimic the physical mechanisms used by white blood cells to traffic through the body and adhere to the blood vessel wall, and have explored strategies to interrupt this metastasis process by targeting specific adhesion receptors. The selectin adhesion receptors important in leukocyte, stem cell, and CTC trafficking have unique biophysics that make them ideal for targeted drug delivery. The King Lab has pioneered the use of selectin proteins to deliver apoptosis death signals to tumor cells in flowing blood, and to deliver therapeutic cargo (e.g., siRNA, chemotherapeutics) encapsulated in nanoscale liposomes. The King lab is currently testing these novel cancer therapies in mouse models of metastatic breast and prostate cancer through the use of whole body luminescence imaging, and in blood samples collected from human volunteers diagnosed with cancer at various stages.
Michael King has been married to Cynthia Reinhart-King, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering, since 2002, and together they have two sons: Simon (age 13) and Julian (age 6), and a 15 year old cockapoo named Lady Mix-a-Lot King. They live in Brentwood, in a home last owned by CJ2K.
Outside of work and family interests, Mike is the founder of VIBE: the Vanderbilt Initiative of Biofunky Engineers, a musical group of biomedical engineering faculty and graduate students who have performed since 2017 on and off the Vanderbilt campus, and live over the air on Radio Free Nashville. Other interests include: being a fanatical lacrosse dad, keeping fit, and wheeling around town in a Jeep Wrangler with no doors.
Email: Mike.King@vanderbilt.edu
Office Phone: +1 (615) – 322 – 3521
Office: 5824 Stevenson Center
Lab: 442 Engineering and Science Building (ESB)
VU Mailbox: PMB 351631, Nashville TN 351631-1631 USA
Research Assistant Professor
Having come from China where he recieved his Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from Peking University at Beijung in 2011, Jason is now a research assistant professor in the king lab. His work focuses on developing nanomaterials for the delivery of a wide variety of drugs (TRAIL, curcumin, piperlongemine, doxorubicin, and many many more!) to metastatic cancer cells in the circulation. On the weekends, Jason enjoys all kinds of outdoors activities, including: fishing, hiking, kayaking, and more! He is a man of the forrest!
6th Year Ph.D. Student
National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellow
Josh, an Athens Ohio native, graduated from Ohio University in 2017 with a BS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a minor in Chemistry (OU OH YEAH!). He is currently researching chemoresistant colorectal cancer and TRAIL applications as an adjuvant for these patients who have exhausted traditional treatment modalities. Josh also is utilizing drug delivery strategies to prevent lymph node metastasis using microfluidic devices and in vivo orthotopic mouse models. In his spare time, Josh enjoys playing basketball, golfing, being outdoors and spending time with his chunky cats.
5th Year Ph.D. Student
National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellow
Coming from frosty Rochester, NY, Jenna studied Biomedical Engineering at University at Buffalo with a minor in Mathematics (wow!). Her research focuses on breast cancer immunotherapy and establishing a 4T1 breast cancer model for TRAIL immunotherapy studies. She is also developing a cancer vaccine to prevent the growth of breast cancer tumors. After Vanderbilt, she plans to have a research career in industry or government. When she is not in the lab, she enjoys traveling, biking, baking, and listening to live music (especially country) in Nashville!
Hola! Originally from Madrid, Spain, María has also lived in Canada, Texas, and NY. She graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a B. Eng. in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Social Sciences (Psychology and Sociology). In the King Lab, María is working on fabricating TRAIL-coated liposomes which target the cell surface vimentin on circulating tumor cells. Additionally, she is studying how matrix stiffness affects the expression of mechanosensitive ion channels and EMT progression in metastatic cancer cells. María has many hobbies, including: cooking, rock climbing, figure skating, and hanging out with her dog Kika!
2nd Year Ph.D. Student
National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellow
Originally from Orlando, FL, Nicole received her BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Florida. She started in the King lab in Fall 2021 and her research focuses on developing a novel cancer immunotherapy using CAR T cells. Outside of the lab, Nicole enjoys hanging out with her friends (and her cat!), going to concerts/music festivals, and finding new coffee shops to study at!
2nd Year Ph.D. Student
National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellow
Email: Abigail.Fabiano@vanderbilt.edu
Abby grew up in New Jersey, where she received her bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering at Rutgers University with a minor in Human Resource Management. She joined the King Lab in 2021, and is working on characterizing cancer cells in shear flow to further investigate cancer metastasis. Ultimately, Abby hopes to obtain a research career in the industry. She enjoys running marathons and drinking excessive amounts of caffeine, as well as traveling to Nepal often to provide to communities and orphanages in need.
2nd Year Ph.D. Student
National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellow
From Fort Smith AR, Natalie studied Biomedical Engineering and minored in Mathematics at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. Her research focuses on cancer metastasis, especially looking at prostate cancer. She is currently looking at the blood of prostate cancer patients in order to isolate the circulating cancer cells. When she is not in lab, she loves to read, embroidery, and knitting!
2nd Year M.S. Student
Coming from Athens, GA, Olivia received her BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!). She is helping Maria and Noah synthesize ZnO nanostructured surfaces to grow tumor spheroids. She hopes to use this surface to better characterize and understand cancer cell spheroids. Outside of the lab, Olivia enjoys hiking, camping, playing guitar, cooking, and exploring all Nashville has to offer!
Noah is a Chemical Engineering major from Turks and Caicos! He started working in the King lab in January of 2021 helping Maria on synthesizing nanostructured surfaces to grow tumor spheroids. In the future he plans to apply to graduate school. Fun fact! Noah is a red belt in karate, so watch out!
Schyler is studying biomedical engineering with a minor in chemistry at Vanderbilt. She joined the King lab in January 2021 to work with Jenna on testing the activation of immune cells under shear conditions. She plans to to apply to graduate school after graduation. She writes and produces music and does theater outside of lab!
Having joined the King Lab in the fall of 2020, Sungmin is studying Biomedical Engineering. He is work with Jason on his TRAIL-micelle project, and plans to apply to medical school in the future. During the weekends, Sungmin enjoys playing the piano, especially Chopin!
Sammy joined the King lab in summer 2021 as a sophmore Neuroscience undergraduate student at Vanderbilt. She is currently working with Jenna understanding how calcium ion channels affect glioblastoma apoptosis. After graduation, Sammy plans to apply to medical school. She loves to run and try new restaurants around town in her free time!
Shanay is a Neuroscience student at Vanderbilt from Mississippi! He is working with Nicole on discovering new cancer immunotherapy techniques. After graduation, he hopes to attend medical school. Outside the lab, he enjoys discovering new restaurants in Nashville and going on late-night runs!
Tin is a Senior at UCSD majoring in Biology and he's spending the summer doing research in the King Lab through the NIH NCI REU program! He is working with Maria to study the effects of fluid shear stress on 3D cancer models grown in a special superhydrophobic device. When he isn't in lab pipetting, Tin likes to play basketball, watch anime, and drink boba!
Spencer is visiting student this summer through the Vanderbilt School of Engineering REU program! She attends Columbia University and is majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Here in the King Lab she is working with Abby on studying prostate cancer cell mechanobiology in a multiplex system. She is also a soccer player outside of the lab!
Coming from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Sarah is a visiting summer student here in the King Lab through the Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering REU program. She is working with Jason to better understand the interactions between E-Selectin coated liposomes and immune cells in fluid flow environments. Outside of the lab, she enjoys knitting and playing soccer!
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