Dan Fletcher holding equipment

Research Expertise and Interest

bioengineering, optical and force microscopy, microfabrication, biophysics, mechanical properties of cells

Research Description

Daniel Fletcher is the Purnendu Chatterjee Chair in Engineering Biological Systems and a professor of Bioengineering. He joined the bioengineering faculty in 2002 and advanced from Associate Professor to Professor in mid 2010. He is also currently serving as Vice Chair for Bioengineering. His research interests include optical and force microscopy, microfabrication, mechanical properties of cells.

In the News

Medical Exams: There’s an App for That

Your cell phone can already find your car and tell you what song the restaurant is playing.  How about an app to screen for eye disease? By coupling the sophisticated imaging capabilities of smart phone cameras with lenses and software for examining the retina, Daniel Fletcher and his students have developed a hand-held, user-friendly version of the optometrist’s ophthalmoscope and are teaming up with clinical collaborators to detect retinal disease caused by diabetes. 

Smartphone Video Microscope Automates Detection of Parasites in Blood

A UC Berkeley-led research team has developed a new mobile phone microscope that uses video to automatically detect and quantify infection by parasitic worms in a drop of blood. This technology could help revive efforts to eradicate debilitating diseases in Africa by providing critical information for health providers in the field.