Stephen Decamp Email & Phone Number

Boston, Ma, Us

Somerville, Massachusetts, Us

Somerville, Massachusetts, Us

Somerville, Massachusetts, Us

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Us

Ohana Biosciences, Inc. is a venture-funded, clinical stage biotechnology company founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016 through its venture creation engine. Ohana Biosciences is pioneering field-defining science in reproductive medicine by enabling cutting-edge molecular and computational technologies to revolutionize the field. In April, 2021, the board of directors made the decision to wind down operations when Ohana was unsuccessful in securing continued financing. • Developed microfluidic technology for sperm cell selection and separation for clinical applications of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) impacting fertility and offspring health.• Initiated R&D projects for ligand-based surface functionalization for cell selection.• Prioritized research strategy goals and produced timeline and resource requirements for next generation microfluidic technology. • Co-lead Diversity and Inclusion initiatives for Ohana including STEM outreach opportunities.• Engaged in outlining breakthrough advances in sperm cell biology for applications in IVF and IUI.Ohana Biosciences, Inc. is a Flagship Pioneering portfolio company.

Boston, Massachusetts, Us

• Led a project focusing on the interface of materials science, physics, and biology. This project generated high-impact results published in Scientific Reports and shows that a fundamental shift in cell metabolism occurs during the mechanical transition to epithelial cell migration. In this project, I merged optical techniques, materials engineering, biomarkers, and Matlab-based analysis to simultaneously quantify biophysical quantities (metabolic and mechanical) from millions of cells. • Managed a multidisciplinary team of software developers, medical students, and physicists. Initiated and led a project through ideation, strategy, and experimental design, analysis, and publication.• Designed and fabricated novel cell culture assay system for mechano-bio-energetic studies.• Designed and coded image analysis pipelines to extract numerous biophysical features from microscopy images; such as cell tracking, segmentation, biomarker and immunofluorescence quantification.• Established proof-of-concept process to investigate relationships between tissue mechanics and immune cell infiltration from human-derived tumor histological sections. • Founded and led a Boston-based meetup group (Boston Soft Matter Socials) that fostered synergy between researchers with diverse backgrounds ranging from physics, math, engineering, and biology.

Boston, Massachusetts, Us

My postdoc research goal: My goal is to understand how cell mechanical properties such as tissue stresses, cell morphology, and cell dynamics, are interrelated to cell energy metabolism such as glycolytic activity and mitochondrial respiration. How do cells regulate energy metabolism while exerting physical forces on their surrounding, such as those that occur during pathological events found in cancer metastasis, asthma pathogenesis, wound healing, and in healthy tissues such as during embryonic development? I approach these questions by leveraging my quantitative training in biophysics and soft-matter physics in order to understand and experimentally explore problems in basic biology.My postdoctoral work with Jeffrey Fredberg at the Harvard School of Public Health applied my training in physics to basic questions in cell mechanics and energy metabolism. During this period, I initiated a project focused on characterizing the metabolic state of cells during collective epithelial cell migration, while simultaneously measuring cell morphology, dynamics, and mechanics. The primary difficulty in this research has been adapting methods in the field of cell metabolism to resolve metabolic properties with single-cell precision in order to measure spatial gradients and explore heterogeneity across dense, confluent epithelial cell layers. Additional obstacles included integrating biological measurements with mechanics measurements such as traction force microscopy. As such, I developed image analysis pipelines to simultaneously extract multiple biophysical indices from microscopy data. This project has resulted in a significant finding that shows cell's switch towards glycolytic metabolism during collective epithelial cell unjamming. Furthermore, this work has connected two previously separate fields that I now call Mechano-bioenergetics.

Waltham, Ma, Us

Waltham, Ma, Us

I developed bio-inspired materials composed of biological constituents (biopolymers and molecular motors) that were assembled into dynamical systems that display emergent phenomena. Analogous to flocking behavior exhibited by birds, micro-scale cell machinery collectively and autonomously assembles into ordered structures with dynamical and emergent patterns that were previously unpredicted. I developed new experimental methods and heavily applied image analytical tools to characterized these active materials. This project pioneered novel bioengineered materials, spawning a new area of physics in active matter research. Further, I gained expertise in custom experimental instrumentation and hardware including optics such as laser confocal, fluorescence, and polarization-light microscopy and spectroscopy for sample quantification. • Pioneered novel bioengineered materials, spawning a new area of physics in active matter research. This project directly resulted in 6 high-impact co-author publications, and inspired dozens more in the field. In this project, I assembled reconstituted biopolymers and molecular motors to build active biomaterials. I discovered a previously unpredicted phenomena in active nematic liquid crystals whereby self-propelled defects spontaneously align and reorient throughout the material. • Expertise in custom experimental instrumentation and hardware including custom optical assemblies, rapid prototyping using microfabrication techniques, and assembling innovative apparatuses for sample production resulting in high-volume sample creation and big-data set generation. • Innovated experimental and analytical protocols now used ubiquitously throughout the field.• Coded novel algorithms for defect orientation analysis and microtubule filament tracking, including statistical analysis, to quantify material science properties in novel biological-based active materials.

Waltham, Ma, Us

I taught an intro physics lab to pre-med and life-science oriented students at Brandeis University. This position involved learning-lab set-up and real-time troubleshooting of physics demonstration and experimental equipment. This teaching position also granted me the opportunity to design quiz questions, work one-on-one with students, and give lessons and instructions to classes (up to 16 students).

East Lansing, Mi, Us

During the 4 years of my undergrad, I worked in the lab of Lisa Lapidus in the condensed matter physics group at Michigan State University. I studied protein folding using ultra-rapid microfluidic mixers, fluorescence confocal microscopy, and circular dichroism techniques. This project focused on understanding fast folding dynamics of protein secondary structure such as the formation of beta sheet and alpha helix. I developed and constructed unique scientific instrumentation to experimentally measure time-resolved secondary structure formation during early events in protein folding. I utilized novel optics based on circular dichroism spectroscopy in conjunction with ultra-rapid microfluidic mixers to initiate and control protein folding events. The project resulted in operational instrumentation and kinetic measurements of secondary structure formation of the protein lysozyme.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Physics | Materials Science | Attachment In Quantitative Biology

Master'S Degree, Physics

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Physics And Astrophysics