Amy Herr | Research UC Berkeley

Amy E. Herr in foreground with microfluidic data in background

Research Expertise and Interest

microfluidics, bioanalytical separations, diagnostics, electrokinetic transport, engineering design

Research Description

Amy E. Herr is the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Professor 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. Their research projects span understanding fundamental transport to materials design to applications in life sciences tools and diagnostics.

In the News

A crowd of people outside of the BBH building.

Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub Opens Its Doors

UC Berkeley’s campus community this week celebrated the grand opening of the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH), the campus’s bold new home for research and innovation. After two years of seismic upgrades and renovations, BBH celebrated its opening this month. Bakar Labs, the facility’s flagship life sciences incubator, has been operational since mid-November, offering space to tenant companies.

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Awards $21 Million to 21 Berkeley Researchers

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub announced today (Jan. 11) the second cohort of scientists to be named CZ Biohub Investigators, 21 of whom are UC Berkeley faculty members.

A First Look Inside UC Berkeley’s Bakar BioEnginuity Hub

After two years of construction, the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH) is scheduled to open in February 2022. The world-class facility pairs the Bakar Labs incubator with fellowships and programming for Berkeley students and researchers, equipping current and aspiring entrepreneurs in the STEM world with labs, offices, equipment and shared community spaces that aim to encourage collaboration.

Rendering of the inside of a building and lab space.

Bakar BioEnginuity Hub: Berkeley’s bold new home for innovation, entrepreneurship

In the face of daunting global challenges, such as climate change and a catastrophic pandemic, it is evident that the world urgently needs science-based solutions to tackle society’s greatest problems. At the University of California, Berkeley, the next generation of emerging scholars and entrepreneurs will work to confront those challenges in the Bakar BioEnginuity Hub (BBH), a new campus initiative that aims to launch the world-changing startups of today, while cultivating the innovative leaders of tomorrow.

Returning used N95 masks to duty quickly — and safely

Bioengineering professor Amy Herr is part of a multi-university research consortium, N95Decon, providing a scientific consensus on existing and emerging decontamination methods. The consortium is assessing existing research, designing new systems and — importantly — actively debunking misinformation, with the goal of providing healthcare staff with scientifically proven ways to more safely reuse the masks.

Berkeley City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley on the left and Berkeley Chamber of Commerce CEO Kirsten MacDonald on the right pose with UC Berkeley’s three honorees: Mike Cohen, Amy Herr and Scott Shenker. (San Francisco Business Times photo by Todd Johnson)

Visionary Award honors three Berkeley intellects shaping the future

Amy Herr, Scott Shenker, and Mike Cohen are powerhouses at UC Berkeley, and all three are winners of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce’s Visionary of the Year award.

In a sample of blood, researchers probe for cancer clues

A new study, led by bioengineers at UC Berkeley, has taken an important step in that direction by measuring a panel of cancer proteins in rare, individual tumor cells that float in the blood.

Markita del Carpio Landry and Michel Maharbiz

CZ Biohub awards nearly $14.5 million to Berkeley researchers

Thirteen UC Berkeley faculty have been chosen by the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub to receive up to $1.5 million each over the next five years to conduct cutting-edge biomedical research — with no strings attached.

New Bakar Fellows director sees Berkeley’s entrepreneurial spirit in faculty

UC Berkeley is known as No. 1 for producing serial entrepreneurs, and that fearless ethos doesn’t drive only our students. It also drives our faculty, says Amy Herr, the faculty director of the Bakar Fellows Program.

3 images: Enrique Iglesia, Amy Herr, and Paul Alivisatos

Berkeley innovators named fellows of National Academy of Inventors

Three UC Berkeley faculty members and entrepreneurs have been named fellows of the 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.

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