Research Bio
Amy E. Herr, Ph.D. is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Bioengineering. A major focus of the Herr lab is engineering innovation for analysis of complex biological systems -- as is required to address questions important to both fundamental biological systems and applied clinical research. Her lab employs a combination of approaches drawn from chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering with strong foundations in biology, materials science, and analytical chemistry. In essence, the Herr Lab strives to advance the "mathematization" of biology & medicine.
Currently focused on advancing proteomics and single-cell biology, the lab has pioneered approaches to measure cellular and sub-cellular state and activity. Research projects span understanding fundamental transport to microsystems design to applications in life sciences and biomedical tools. Her work is important to cellular-level biology spanning from understanding the inititation and progression of breast cancer in humans to the understanding the breakdown of coral-algal symbiosis during coral bleaching.
Herr’s contributions have been recognized by the: Test of Time Award from the Nature Publishing Group, Mid-career Achievement Award from the American Electrophoresis Society, Young Innovator Award from Analytical Chemistry, NSF CAREER award, NIH New Innovator Award, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in chemistry, and a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award. She was recognized with the Berkeley Visionary Award from the City of Berkeley’s Chamber of Commerce and is a CZ Biohub Investigator and Weill Neurohub Investigator.
Herr has held leadership positions in philanthropy, academia, industry, and government. She is a member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering (AIMBE), and has served in a formal capacity for the NIH (NACBIB), DARPA, the US Air Force, and Lawrence Livermore National Lab. She is past president of her field’s scholarly society, the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS). She is a co-inventor on >40 patents and a successful entrepreneur having co-founded Zephyrus Biosciences (acquired by Bio-Techne in 2013) with additional start-ups from her lab (Correlia) and courses (Eko Devices, $100MM raised).
Herr currently serves as an Associate Editor for Lab on a Chip a peer-reviewed scientific journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Herr was the Founding Executive Director of the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (now Bakar Bio Labs), a start-up incubator for academic spin-outs which was UC Berkeley’s largest philanthropic gift to date, and was Vice President of the CZ Biohub Network (now Biohub), a US$500M science initiative design to invent the tools and technologies required to cure, prevent, and manage disease in the next century.
As an engineer, her driving mission is to accelerate the translation of scientific discovery to positive societal impact.
Research Expertise and Interest
microfluidics, bioanalytical separations, diagnostics, electrokinetic transport, engineering design, single-cell biology
In the News
Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Opens Its Doors
Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Awards $21 Million to 21 Berkeley Researchers
A First Look Inside UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub
Bakar BioEnginuity Hub: Berkeley’s bold new home for innovation, entrepreneurship
Returning used N95 masks to duty quickly — and safely
Visionary Award honors three Berkeley intellects shaping the future
In a sample of blood, researchers probe for cancer clues
CZ Biohub awards nearly $14.5 million to Berkeley researchers
New Bakar Fellows director sees Berkeley’s entrepreneurial spirit in faculty
Berkeley innovators named fellows of National Academy of Inventors
Seven current and former UC Berkeley engineers named top innovators under 35
Introducing this year’s top innovators under 35, a list compiled each year by MIT Technology Review.
Researchers talk new diagnostic methods at global tech conference
Four UC Berkeley engineering professors took part in the World Economic Forum’s ninth Annual Meeting of the New Champions, a global conference on innovation, science and technology held last week in Dalian, China. Ab
Beyond Genomics - Mining the Proteome
Lab tests that detect prostate cancer can’t reveal if the cancer poses a real risk. It looks for elevated levels of a protein called PSA, but about 80 percent of cancers that generate high PSA levels grow so slowly and may never need treatment. New research by Amy Herr points the way to a much more refined assessment of proteins and the promise of better diagnosis and treatment of a range of diseases.
Bakar Fellows advance commercially promising research
In its first year, the initiative will give research innovations by six early-career UC Berkeley faculty members — including technologies to move prosthetic limbs with the power of thought and to control Argentine ants using their own pheromones — a significant boost from the lab to the market.
Three UC Berkeley researchers receive NIH 'innovator' awards
Three UC Berkeley faculty members - Diana Bautista, Amy Herr and Donald Rio - have been singled out as innovators by the National Institutes of Health and will receive special grants designed to fund "transformative research" that could lead to major advances in medical science.
Teaching
Senior Design Projects [BIOENG 192 - 001]
Individual Study or Research [BIOENG 299 - 011]
Group Studies, Seminars, or Group Research [BIOENG 298 - 009]
Individual Study or Research [BIOENG 299 - 009]
Individual Study or Research [BIOENG 299 - 010]
Individual Study or Research [BIOENG 299 - 011]