Projects               

Integrated DNA Sensors for Brain Studies. Effective therapies for brain disorders depend on our ability to monitor brain neurochemicals. My lab will be developing integrated aptamer-based optical biosensors that enable quantitative, high-resolution mapping of neurotransmitters across biological scales. 

A. A. Hariri, Alyssa P Cartwright, Constantin Dory, Jelena Vuckovic, Hyongsok Tom Soh et. al. Continuous optical detection of small-molecule analytes in complex biomatrices. Advanced Materials. 36, 1, (2024)

B. D. Wilson‡, A.  A. Hariri‡, I. Thomson, H. T. Soh. Independent control of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of aptamer switches. Nature Communication. 10(1) 5079 (2019)

Single Molecule Diagnostics. Early detection is the most effective means of improving prognosis for many diseases such as cancer. In my group, we want to develop proteomics assays by integrating advanced proofreading steps to provide the necessary combination of sensitivity and specificity for important biomarkers. 

A. A. Hariri, S. Newman, S. Tan, et. al. A. Dunn , H. T. Soh “Improved immunoassay sensitivity and specificity using single-molecule colocalization.” Nat. COMM (2022).

C. Planitch‡, A. A. Hariri‡, J. Rahbani, J. Gordon, H. F. Sleiman, and G. Cosa. Kinetics of strand displacement and hybridization on wireframe DNA nanostructures: A single molecule Study. ACS Nano. 12 (12), 12836 (2018)

Smart Nanocapsules for Targeted Delivery. Using Aptamer switches, my group will build sophisticated  nano-devices capable of executing relatively complex functions, including drug delivery vehicles for the targeted and controlled release of therapeutics with specific mechanistic responses to biochemical triggers with specific temporal/spatial control. 

A. E. Rangel, A.  A. Hariri, M. Eiseintein, H. T. Soh. Engineering Aptamer Switches for Multifunctional Stimulus-Responsive Nanosystems. Advanced Materials. 32 (50): 2003704 (2020)

 A. A. Hariri , G. D. Hamblin , Y. Gidi, H. F. Sleiman, and G. Cosa, “Stepwise growth of surface-grafted DNA nanotubes visualized at the single molecule level” Nature Chemistry 7 (4), 295-300 (2015)