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Assistant Professor
Work in his laboratory is focused on reconfiguring biological systems for improved performance in the areas of biomedicine and sustainability. His lab attempts to change bacterial or eukaryotic signal transduction to make cells that are more responsive to their environment and more efficient as technological tools. By rewiring cellular signaling circuitry, he is tailoring highly specific responses to a wide array of process inputs. “While we are primarily concerned with events occurring at a subcellular level, sometimes the best solution can be found by focusing on the environment immediately around a cellular population,” he explains. “To that end we are working with collaborators to develop platforms that can house cells in a way that facilitates high throughput screening of various environments.” Currently March’s lab is working to develop novel therapeutics for cholera and diabetes. They have plans for advancing the technology of microbial reconfiguration to address several disease states in the future. They also are attempting to convert wastes into value-added products to prevent their disposal. They are interested in characterizing the interfunctionality of microbial communities that are involved in contaminant remediation. March enjoys teaching molecular techniques and theories to biological engineers. “There are so many new techniques available for verifying events on the molecular level, yet we are still far from developing a perfect computational model of a living organism,” he says. “Why are predictive capabilities so limited? What aspects of biological systems lead to uncertainty? How can we minimize that? Is a computational human model that replaces a mouse model in the foreseeable future?” His courses will explore these types of questions. “One of the biggest challenges we all face as engineers is the selection of the right tool for the job. We must think about the things we develop and the solutions we propose in terms of their long-term ramifications to society,” March says. “The best engineering is that which lasts the longest and holds its value.” |
John March has two passions in engineering: medicine and the environment. March holds a PhD in chemical engineering (University of Maryland, 2005) and an MS in biological engineering (University of Georgia, 2000). His special focus is metabolic engineering and signal transduction. 
