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Amy E. Herr

Biological Faculty Engineer

Biological Systems and Engineering

  • Process Engineering & Analytics

Secondary Affiliation: Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging

Building: 922, Room 208B
Mail Stop: STANLEY
Phone: (510) 666-3396
AEHerr@lbl.gov

Research Interests

Scale-dependent Phenomena Underpinning Technology Development

Large-scale study of protein structure, function, and expression (proteomics) is instrumental to molecular biomarker discovery.  Due to the constantly changing nature of protein expression and state, these profiles are notoriously difficult to study.   High-resolution analytical assays such as two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry have proven essential to proteomics; nevertheless, these information-rich methods can be slow and labor intensive.  With these considerations in mind, our group is developing  techniques, implemented via microfluidic technologies, as a means to achieve a rapid, yet still quantitative, assessment of protein expression & state variations in complex samples. 

Biomarker Validation

In spite of significant advances in proteomic technology, few new protein biomarkers have emerged from the proteomic discovery pool, progressed though the scrutiny of validation studies, and become incorporated in diagnostic tools.  The long-term goal of our work is development of flexible instruments for the rapid validation of putative disease-specific biomarkers in promising diagnostic fluids. An urgent need exists for robust bioanalytical capability that delivers high-throughput validation of putative biomarkers, thus allowing subsequent incorporation of validated markers into diagnostics. To achieve this aim, our group employs nascent microfluidic technologies to seamlessly integrate complex sample preparation, sample handling, and quantitative bioanalytical assays into tools amenable to automation. 

Clinical & Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Appropriate, effective biomolecular analysis mechanisms are identified for diagnostic development based upon the physicochemical characteristics of putative, disease-specific biomarkers. Most disease states are complex — diagnosis & monitoring require more than simple binary detection of a small set of proteins. To compound the difficulty in assessing disease state, analytical grade quantitation and specificity are difficult to achieve as part of a disease diagnostic, especially diagnostics employed in near-patient environments.   Consequently, our group is exploring the use of electrophoretic microfluidic formats, as such formats have been demonstrated to allow rapid, analytical-grade quantitation of small sample volumes through enhanced resolving power and high-efficiency operation.

 

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Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network Names Herr Chief Technology Officer

March 1, 2022

Amy Herr, faculty engineer in the Biological and Systems Engineering Division, has been appointed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the newly established Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network. As CTO, Herr will help lead the Network’s efforts to advance technologies to observe, measure, and analyze human biology in action.

Congratulations to 2021 Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators

January 18, 2022

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator Program recently awarded $21 million to 21 University of California, Berkeley researchers. Of this group, four are faculty scientists in the Biosciences Area.

Amy Herr to Head UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub

May 12, 2021

UC Berkeley has announced a new campus initiative, the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH), that aims to launch the world-changing startups of today, while cultivating the innovative leaders of tomorrow. Opening this fall, BBH will focus on people working at the convergence of the life sciences with the physical, engineering, and data sciences. Amy Herr, a faculty engineer in the Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division and UC Berkeley professor of bioengineering, has been named executive director of BBH.

For more Amy E. Herr news items »

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