Microscale Bioseparations Laboratory

Dr. Blanca H. Lapizco Encinas Web Page

ResearcherID http://www.researcherid.com/rid/C-4104-2008

EDUCATION

• Post-Doc in Microfluidics: Sandia National Laboratories (2003-2004). Research topic: Dielectrophoresis for the manipulation of microorganisms in water.
• PhD in Chemical Engineering: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH, USA (1998-2003). Research topic: Micro-chromatography for biomolecule purification.
• MSc in Chemical Engineering: Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Celaya Guanajuato, Mexico (1996-1998).
• BSc in Chemical Engineering: Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora, Cd. Obregón Sonora, Mexico (1991-1996)
.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Tennessee Technological University (08/2011-present).
• Professor-Researcher 3B, Cinvestav Unidad Monterrey, Apodaca NL Mexico (12/2009-07/2011).
• Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor of Biotechnology and Food Engineering and Chemical Engineering Departments, Tecnológico de Monterrey, (01/2005-12/2009).
• Post-doctoral Research Scientist, Microfluidics Department, Sandia National Laboratories, CA, USA, (2003-2004)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Lapizco-Encinas’s research focus is on the area of Bioseparations on the micro-scale, with focus on electrokinetic methods (electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis) and adsorption chromatography. Her current research projects deal with the application of dielectrophoresis for the manipulation and concentration of a side array of bioparticles, from nanobioparticles, microbes to mammalian cells.

BRIEF CV

Dr. Blanca H. Lapizco-Encinas is from Cd. Obregón Sonora, a small city in Northwest Mexico. She holds a BSc and MSc degrees in Chemical Engineering from Tecnologico de Sonora (1996) and Tecnologico de Celaya (1998), respectively. She came to the US in 1998 and started her research on miniaturization and microfluidics during her PhD studies at University of Cincinnati, where she worked toward the development of a micro-chromatograph under the supervision of Dr. Neville Pinto. She graduated in January 2003. In February 2003 she joined the Microfluidics Department at Sandia National Laboratories as a post-doctoral researcher, where she worked on insulator-based dielectrophoresis (iDEP) for the concentration and separation of microbes from water. At Sandia she had the opportunity to work with Eric Cummings, one the inventors of iDEP. Her work at Sandia led to first viability assessment for bacteria employing iDEP.

From January 2005 to December 2009 she was a professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, where she started a research group on microscale bioseparations. In December 2009 she joined CINVESTAV-Monterrey, a Government Research Center in Mexico, where she is continued her work in microfluidics and electrokinetics. In August 2011 she joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Tennessee Technological University, as an associate professor. Her current research efforts are focused on the development of electrokinetic techniques for the manipulation of bioparticles. Her work includes both experiments and mathematical modeling of electrokinetic phenomena. Her group has worked with proteins, DNA, bacteria, yeast, microalgae and mammalian cells. Her main research objective is to develop electrokinetic-based microdevices that would answer the needs of many different applications, such as: concentrating DNA for genomics, protein purification and separation for biopharmaceuticals, microorganisms manipulation and detection for food safety and environmental monitoring, etc.

The research findings obtained by her group have been published in important international journals such as lab on a chip, Electrophoresis, Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, among others. Her group has presented their results in numerous international conferences such as: American Electrophoresis Society Annual Meeting, Microscale Bioseparations, Meeting of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies, GRC conference Microfluidics, Physics & Chemistry Of, International Symposium on Capillary Electroseparation Techniques, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, among others. She is a reviewer for several international Journals. She is Deputy Editor for the Journal Electrophoresis, where she recently acted as guest editor for two special issues on Dielectrophoresis published in September 2011. She is Vice President of the American Electrophoresis Society.

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

• 2011 Appointed Deputy Editor by the Editor in Chief of the international journal ELECTROPHORESIS.
• 2011 Invited as “Guest Editor” by the journal ELECTROPHORESIS, the invitation is to edit a special proceedings issue from the AES-AIChE Annual Meeting, issue to be published in July 2012.
• 2011 Invited as Plenary Speaker at the ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Denver Colorado, November 11-17, 2011.
• 2011 chairman of the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Electrophoresis Society.
• 2011 Awarded Level II by the Mexican Scientist/Researchers System (SNI).
• 2010 Invitation to Edit the speciall issue "DIELECTROPHORESIS 2011" of the journal ELECTROPHORESIS.
• 2010 Member of Editorial Board of the journal Global Journal of Analytical Chemistry (04/2010-present).
• 2009 Member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
• 2009 Fellowship from the Nature Publishing Group to attend the conference GRC Microfluidics, Physics & Chemistry Of, Lucca Barga Tuscany, Italy, June-July 2009.
• 2009 Member of Editorial Board of the journal ELECTROPHORESIS (01/2009-present).
• 2008 L’ÓREAL-UNESCO-AMC Award “For Women in Science” for research excellence, recipient of one of the four awards given nationwide to young female scientists in Mexico in 2008.
• 2008 First place at the poster session of the American Electrophoresis Society held jointly with the 2008 AIChE Annual Meeting, Philadelphia PA, USA (11/2008).
• 2008 Teaching and Research Award 2008, given by the College of Biotechnology and Food, Tecnológico de Monterrey, 2008.
• 2008 Awarded Level I by the Mexican Scientist/Researchers System (SNI).
• 2005 CONACyT (Mexican Council for Research) Repatriation Award.
• 2005 Awarded Level Candidate by the Mexican Scientist/Researchers System (SNI).
• 2001 University of Cincinnati Summer Research Fellowship.
• 2000 University of Cincinnati Summer Research Fellowship.
• 1998 Fulbright-CONACYT (Mexican Council for Research) Scholarship to pursue PhD Studies.
• 1996 CONACYT (Mexican Council for Research) Scholarship to pursue MSc Studies.
  
  
  
  

SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES

• Deputy Editor of the journal ELECTROPHORESIS (08/2011-present).
• CONFERENCE CHAIR, AES Meeting in conjunction with AICHE Annual Meeting 2011, Minneapolis, MN, USA, (10/2011). http://www.aesociety.org/meetings/2011/
• Session chair and organizer for the session “bioparticle analysis employing electrokinetic techniques”, FACSS 2011 meeting, Reno, NV, USA (10/2011).
• Councilor, American Electrophoresis Society (11/2009-present).
• Session Chair, AES Meeting in conjunction with AICHE Annual Meeting 2010, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, (11/2010).
• Member of Editorial Board of the journal ELECTROPHORESIS (01/2009-present).
• Session Chair, AES Meeting in conjunction with AICHE Annual Meeting 2009, Nashville, TN, USA, (11/2009).
  
  
  
  

RECENT INVITED TALKS AND SEMINARS

• Lapizco-Encinas B.H*., Microscale Electrokinetics: Dielectrophoretic Manipulation of Particles, Track 11-9 9th Symposium on Electric, Magnetic & Thermal Phenomena in Micro and Nano-Scale Systems, ASME 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Denver Colorado, November 11-17, 2011. Invited Keynote Talk.
• Lapizco-Encinas B.H*., Gallo-Villanueva, R.C.; Moncada-Hernández H., Pérez-González, V.H., Baylon-Cardiel J.L., Development of insulator-based dielectrophoretic systems for handling bioparticles, 38th Conference of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (38th FACSS), Reno NV, USA, (10/2011). Invited talk with paid expenses.
• Lapizco-Encinas B.H*., Insulator-based dielectrophoresis for microparticle manipulation, Tennessee Tech University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Cookeville, TN (02/2011).
• Baylon-Cardiel,J.L., Jesús-Pérez, N.M., Chávez-Santoscoy, A.V., Martínez-Chapa, S.O., Lapizco-Encinas B.H*. Insulator-based dielectrophoresis of particles employing extremely low frequency alternating current electric fields, 37th Conference of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (37th FACSS), Raleigh, NC, USA, (10/2010).
• Lapizco-Encinas B.H*., Particle manipulation with insulator-based dielectrophoresis, Arizona State University, Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Tempe AZ, USA, (09/2010).
• Baylon-Cardiel,J.L., Jesús-Pérez, N.M., Chávez-Santoscoy, A.V., Martínez-Chapa, S.O., LLapizco-Encinas B.H*., Dielectrophoretic Manipulation of Particles Employing Low Frequency Alternating Electric Fields in an Array of Insulators, ITP 2010: 17th International Symposium on Capillary Electroseparation Techniques, Baltimore, MD, USA, (8/2010).
• Lapizco-Encinas B.H*., Insulator-Based Dielectrophoresis, for Bioparticle Manipulation, University of Louisville, J.B. speed School of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisville, KY, USA, (10/2009).
• Lapizco-Encinas B.H**., Application of AC and DC Electric Fields in Insulator-Based Dielectrophoresis, 36th Conference of the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (36th FACSS), Louisville, KY, USA, (10/2009).
• Lapizco-Encinas B.H* “Microscale Bioseparations: Electrokinetic Methods”, Campus Ciudad de México, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City, (03/2009).
• Lapizco-Encinas B.H*., Bioparticle Manipulation with Insulator-Based Dielectrophoresis, AICHE Annual Meeting 2008, Philadelphia, PA, USA, (11/2008).