Dr. Irimia has a medical degree from the “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine in Iasi, Romania and a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Illinois in Chicago.

His graduate work, under the guidance of Professor Jens Karlsson, pioneered the use of microfabricated devices for research in the fields of cryobiology and cryopreservation.
Current research interests involve the use of microfluidic devices (BioMEMS) for various applications related to biological and clinical sciences. Dr. Irimia is a leading investigator in the area of cell migration in response to temporal and spatial chemical gradients in microfluidic devices.

Dr. Irimia is also involved in the use of microfluidic devices for single-cell biochemical analysis and total RNA isolation from small cell populations (less than 50 cells) for gene chip analysis. As an extension of these to clinical applications, Dr. Irimia is active in developing tools for probing the immune response and neutrophil motility for the prediction and prevention of infectious complications following burn and trauma injuries.

Recent Publications

Irimia D., Toner M. Cell handling using microstructured membranes Lab on a Chip 6, 345-352, 2006.

Irimia D., Geba D.A., Toner M. Universal Microfluidic Gradient Generator Analytical Chemistry 78, 3472 -3477, 2006.

Irimia D., Liu S.Y., Tharp W.G., Samadani A., Toner M., Poznansky M.C Microfluidic System for Measuring Neutrophil Migratory Responses to Fast Switches of Chemical Gradients Lab on a Chip 6, 191–198, 2006.

Aksan A., Irimia D., He X., Toner M. Desiccation Kinetics of Biopreservation Solutions in Microchannels Journal of Applied Physics 99, 064703, 2006.

Tharp W.G., Upadhyaya A., Yadav R., Irimia D., Samadani A., Hurtado O., Liu S.Y., Brainard D.M., Mahon M.J., Nourshargh S., van Oudenaarden A., Toner M., Poznansky M.C. Neutrophil chemorepulsion: gradient perception and directional decision making in vitro and in vivo The Journal of Leukocyte Biology 79:539-554, 2006.

Toner M., Irimia D. Blood-on-a-chip Annual Reviews in Biomedical Engineering 7, 77-103, 2005 (Refereed review).