Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials

at Wake Forest University

 

Addressing MRSA...









Researchers at Nanotech together with the Orthopaedics Department at WFBMC, are working to  characterize glycocalyx-related  susceptibility phenomena in bacterial colonies.  We are specifically interested in properties of antibiotic resistance, adhesiveness, and metabolic function that may be tied to biofilm formation by bacteria.  We apply Nano-characterization such as AFM, and NSOM, to understand local visco-elastic, adhesion, and rupture properties of bacterial biofilms. Our current projects include: Characterization of bio-membrane mechanics as a function of susceptibly Development of predictive models based on bio-mechanical response metrics Development of intervention strategies based on membrane disruption using nanomaterials