Kevin J. Freedman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, UC Riverside
Visiting Scientist, Global Viral
(Previously: Senior Fellow, GV)
Profile from UC Bioengineering:
Dr. Freedman's group at UCR is focused on developing and characterizing micro and nanotechnology for studying unexplored biological systems and pathways, single cells, molecular biophysics, and kinetics. As a Whitaker Fellow, he obtained postdoctoral training at Imperial College London (UK) in the laboratory of Prof. Joshua Edel. At this position, he worked on single molecule trapping technology harnessing dielectrophoresis (DEP) as well as integration with nanopipettes for single molecule DNA detection. Other successful projects included the engineering of nanoscale Raman sensors, single molecule FRET systems, and microfluidics. After leaving Imperial College London, Dr. Freedman joined Global Viral and LBNL's Joint Genome Institute to work on single cell genomics, metagenomics, and bias-free 16S sequencing. In 2014, he earned his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering at Drexel University while in the laboratory of Prof. MinJun Kim. During his doctoral work, Dr. Freedman worked to show that single proteins unfold one at a time as they pass through a nanopore per electric field denaturing forces. Dr. Freedman has also held visiting scientist positions at KAIST (South Korea), University of Pennsylvania (USA), and Uppsala University (Sweden).
Historical
Kevin joins Global Viral as a Post-Doctoral Scientist working on the “Boundaries of Life” project in collaboration with the Joint Genome Institute (DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories). Coming from across the pond, Kevin was awarded a prestigious research grant to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship at Imperial College London working with Dr. Joshua Edel towards developing technology for single molecule sensing. By using specialized, patent-pending techniques to concentrate DNA prior to sensing, Kevin was able to detect DNA at concentrations <5 femto-molar (funding provided by Whitaker International Programs). Prior to this, his graduate education was made possible through being awarded two grants by the National Science Foundation (the NSF IGERT fellowship and the NSF GRF) which culminated in earning advanced degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Chemical & Biological Engineering. During his Ph.D., he focused on single molecule biophysics and nanofabrication under Dr. MinJun Kim (Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics). Projects included studying single molecule protein unfolding/stretching, protein capture efficiency into nanofluidic devices, and DNA detection using graphene nanopores. Previous positions also included developing computational methods and prediction algorithms for pathological brain states using neural signals (under Dr. Karen Moxon), and assay development for Merck and Co., Inc. During the past 10 years, Kevin has published over 20 journal papers, was invited to speak at 7 international conferences, as well as made numerous presentations at conferences, workshops, seminars, and NSF project meetings. With a strong background in developing methods and technology for probing cells, viruses and single molecules with unprecedented resolution, Kevin plans to apply his knowledge to new and developing areas of science.
Publications
K. Freedman, C. Crick, P. Albella, A. Barik, A. Ivanov, S. Maier, S.H. Oh, J. Edel. “On-Demand Surface and Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Using Dielectrophoretic Trapping and Nanopore Sensing,” ACS Photonics, Accepted.
K. Freedman, L. Otto, A. Ivanov, S. Oh, J. Edel, “Nanopore Sensing at Ultra-low Concentrations using Single Molecule Dielectrophoretic Trapping,” Nature Communications, 7, 10217 (2016).
K. Freedman*, S. R. Haq, J.B. Edel, P. Jemth, M.J. Kim*. "Nonequilibrium Capture Rates Induce Protein Accumulation and Enhanced Adsorption to Solid-State Nanopores," ACS Nano, 8 (12), 12238–12249 (2014). * Co-Corresponding Author
A. Rutkowska, K. Freedman, J. Skalkowska, M.J. Kim, J.B. Edel, and T. Albrecht, 2015, “Electrodeposition and Bipolar Effects in Metallized Nanopores and Their Use in the Detection of Insulin,” Analytical Chemistry, 87 (4), 2337–2344 (2015).
A.R. Bastian, et al., “Mechanism of Multivalent Nanoparticle Encounter with HIV-1 for Potency Enhancement of Peptide Triazole Inactivators,” Journal of Biological Chemistry, 290(1), 529-543 (2014).
A.P. Ivanov, K. Freedman, Min Jun Kim, T. Albrecht, J.B. Edel, "High precision fabrication and positioning of nanoelectrodes in a nanopore," ACS Nano, 8 (2), 1940–1948 (2014).
K. Freedman, C.W. Ahn, M.J. Kim, "Detection of long and short DNA using nanopores with graphitic polyhedral edges," ACS Nano, 7(6), 5008-5016 (2013).
G. Goyal, K. Freedman, M.J. Kim, "Gold nanoparticle translocation dynamics and electrical detection of single particle diffusion using solid state nanopores," Analytical Chemistry, 85(17), 8180-8187 (2013).
A.R. Bastian, M. Contarino, F. Kantharaju, D. Moreira, K. Freedman, K. McFadden, C. Duffy, J. Jacobson, J. Hoxie, and I. Chaiken, "Molecular and Functional Transitions in the Virolytic Breakdown of HIV-1 by Sulfhydryl Peptide Triazole,” Retrovirology, 10,153 (2013).
D. Japrung, J. Dogan, K. Freedman, A. Nadzeyka, S. Bauerdick, T. Albrecht, Min Jun Kim, P. Jemth, J. Edel, "Single molecule studies of intrinsically disordered proteins using solid-state nanopores," Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 85, No.4, p2449-2456 (2013).
K. Freedman, S. R. Haq, J.B. Edel, P. Jemth, M.J. Kim, "Controlled unfolding and stretching of a protein domain inside a solid-state nanopore," Nature Scientific Reports, Vol. 3, 1638 (2013).
K. Freedman, A. Bastian, I. Chaiken, M.J. Kim, " Solid‐state nanopore detection of protein complexes: Applications in healthcare and protein kinetics," Small, 9(5), 750-759 (2013). *Featured Front Cover*
W. Jo, K. Freedman, D.K. Yi, M.J. Kim, "Fabrication of tunable silica-mineralized nanotubes using flagella as bio-templates," Nanotechnology, Vol. 23, 055601 (2012).
A.S. Prabhu, K. Freedman, J.W.F. Robertson, Z. Nikolov, J.J. Kasianowicz, M.J. Kim, "SEM-induced shrinking of solid-state nanopores for single molecule detection," Nanotechnology, Vol. 22, 425302 (2011).
W. Jo, K. Freedman, D.K. Yi, R.K. Bose, K.K.S. Lau, S.D. Solomon, Min Jun Kim, "Photon to thermal response of single patterned gold nanorods cluster under near infrared laser irradiation," Biofabrication, Vol. 3, 015002 (2011).
W. Jo, K. Freedman, Min Jun Kim, "Metallization of biologically inspired silica nanotubes," Materials Science and Engineering: C, 32(8), 2426-2430 (2012).
K. Freedman, M. Jurgens, A. Prabhu, C.W. Ahn, P. Jemth, J. Edel, M.J. Kim, "Chemical, thermal, and electric field induced unfolding of single protein molecules studied using nanopores," Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 83, 5137-5144 (2011).
A. Prabhu, T. Jubery, K. Freedman, R. Mulero, P. Dutta, M. Kim. Chemically modified solid-state nanopores for high throughput nanoparticle separation. Condensed Matter, 22 ,454107 (2010).
R. Mulero, A. Prabhu, K. Freedman, M. Kim, Nanopore Based Devices for Bioanalytical Applications, Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation, 15(3): 243-252 (2010).
K. Freedman, Jürgens, M., Peyman, S.A., Prabhu, A., Jemth, P., Edel, J., Min Jun Kim, “Single molecule protein biophysics using chemically modified nanopores,” Sensors IEEE, 1060-1065 (2010).
W. Hesse, K. Freedman, M.J. Kim. The importance of bacterial nanofluidics on medicine and engineering. Small, 6(8), 895-909 (2010).
Book chapters
K. Freedman, M.J. Kim, "Single Molecule Protein Unfolding Using a Nanopore," in Nanofluidics (2nd Edition), Ed. J.B. Edel and T. Albrecht, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016. (In Press)
G. Goyal, K. Freedman, A.S. Prabhu, M.J. Kim, "Case Studies Using Solid State Pores," in Engineered Nanopores for Bioanalytical Applications, Ed. J.B. Edel and T. Albrecht, Elsevier, 2013.
K. Freedman, D. Grasse, K. Moxon. Seizure detection using a novel multi-measurement support vector machine algorithm, Lap Lambert Publishing, 2009.
Acknowledged in: Chronobioengineering: Introduction to Biological Rhythms with Applications, Morgan and Claypool Publishers, 2012.
Other
Cover Art for Nanofluidics (2nd Edition), Ed. J.B. Edel and T. Albrecht, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016. (In Press)