Noah Malmstadt

Assistant Professor

Research Topics

Passive transport across lipid membranes
Biomimetic synthetic cell membranes
Green nanomanufacturing
Nanoscale structure formation in model lipid membranes
Microfluidic reaction control by phase-selective extraction

Research Overview

Nanoscale structure formation in model lipid membranes

Lipid phase segregation leading to the formation of nanoscale lipid rafts is important in many cellular processes, including signaling and viral docking. Existing membrane model systems do not exhibit this nanoscale raft formation phenomenon: phase segregation in model membranes takes place on much larger scales. We are designing biomimetic systems that reproduce the nanoscale phase separation behavior observed in cells. These systems promise to be useful tools for studying the biophysics of lipid rafts and raft-protein interactions as well as platforms for screening potential raft-targeted drugs.

Microfluidic reaction control by phase-selective extraction

We are designing a droplet-based microfluidic reactor system in which droplet fusion and mixing is controlled by the selective extraction of an immiscible droplet-dividing phase. The extraction process is completely automatic and driven by the material properties of the microfluidic device. This system has applications to analytic titrations, combinatorial chemistry, and nanoparticle synthesis.

Contact Information

Web Site:
Malmstadt Research Group
E-mail:
malmstad@usc.edu
Mailing Address:
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of Southern California
925 Bloom Walk, HED 216
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1211
Office Location:

RTH 504

Office Phone:
(213)821-2034
Fax:
(213)740-1056

Education

B.S. Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1997
Ph.D. Bioengineering, University of Washington, 2003

Research Images

Selected Publications

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1. "Deformation and poration of lipid bilayer membranes by cationic nanoparticles." Su Li and Noah Malmstadt. Soft Matter. In press, published online. 2013.

2. "Effect of ionic liquid impurities on the synthesis of silver nanoparticles." Laura L. Lazarus, Carson T. Riche, Noah Malmstadt, and Richard L. Brutchey. Langmuir. 28(45):15987-15993. 2012.

3. "Optical stretching of giant unilammelar vesicles with an integrated dual-beam optical trap." Mehmet E. Solmaz, Roshni Biswas, Shalene Sankhagowit, James R. Thompson, Camilo A. Mejia, Noah Malmstadt, and Michelle L. Povinelli. Biomedical Optics Express. 3(10):2419-2427. 2012.

4. "Two-phase microfluidic droplet flows of ionic liquids for the synthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles." Laura L. Lazarus, Carson T. Riche, Brandon C. Marin, Malancha Gupta, Noah Malmstadt, and Richard L. Brutchey. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 4(6):3077-3083. 2012. Cover article.

5. "Lipid bilayers covalently anchored to carbon nanotubes." Yasaman Dayani and Noah Malmstadt. Langmuir. 28(21):8174-8182. 2012.

6. "Vapor deposition of cross-linked fluoropolymer barrier coatings onto pre-assembled microfluidic devices." Carson T. Riche, Brandon C. Marin, Noah Malmstadt, and Malancha Gupta. Lab on a Chip. 11(18):3049-3052. 2011. Cover article.

7. "Imaging molecular transport across lipid bilayers." Su Li, Peichi C. Hu, and Noah Malmstadt. Biophysical Journal. 101(3):700-708. 2011.

8. "Microfluidic fabrication of asymmetric giant lipid vesicles." Peichi C. Hu, Su Li, and Noah Malmstadt. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 3(5):1434-1440. 2011.

9. "Excitation of Cy5 in self-assembled lipid bilayers using optical microresonators." Lindsay M. Freeman, Su Li, Yasaman Dayani, Hong-Seok Choi, Noah Malmstadt, and Andrea M. Armani. Applied Physics Letters. 98:143703. 2011.

10. "Flow-focused synthesis of monodisperse gold nanoparticles using ionic liquids on a microfluidic platform." Laura L. Lazarus, Astro S.-J. Yang, Steven Chu, Richard L. Brutchey, and Noah Malmstadt. Lab on a Chip. 10(24):3377-3379. 2010.

11. "Confocal imaging to quantify passive transport across biomimetic lipid membranes." Su Li, Peichi Hu, and Noah Malmstadt. Analytical Chemistry. 82(18):7766-7771. 2010.

12."Mechanisms of alveolar epithelial translocation of a defined population of nanoparticles." Nazanin R. Yacobi, Noah Malmstadt, Farnoosh Fazlollahi, Lucas DeMaio, Ronald Marchelletta, Sarah F. Hamm-Alvarez, Zea Borok, Kwang-Jin Kim, and Edward D. Crandall. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. 42(5):604-614. 2010.

13. "Black lipid membranes stabilized through substrate conjugation to a hydrogel." Tae-Joon Jeon, Noah Malmstadt, Jason L. Poulos, and Jacob J. Schmidt. Biointerphases. 3(2):FA96-FA100. 2008. Cover article.

14. "Long-lived planar lipid bilayer membranes anchored to an in situ polymerized hydrogel." Noah Malmstadt, Tae-Joon Jeon, and Jacob J. Schmidt. Advanced Materials. 20(1):84-89. 2008.

15. "Automated formation of lipid bilayer membranes in a microfluidic device." Noah Malmstadt, Michael A. Nash, Robert F. Purnell, and Jacob J. Schmidt. Nano Letters. 6(9):1961-1965. 2006.

16. "Hydrogel-encapsulated lipid membranes." Tae-Joon Jeon, Noah Malmstadt, and Jacob J. Schmidt. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 128(1):42-43. 2006.