Exploring New Areas
The Ford Group is interested in studying how bacteria move and grow in contexts ranging from bioremediation to human health.
Two ChemE Professors Named American Institute of Chemical Engineers Fellows
University of Virginia professors of chemical engineering Bill Epling and Roseanne Ford were recently elected fellows of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Bonding Over Bacteria: Doctoral Student and Undergrad Pore Over ‘Double Hoo’ Research
Ph.D. candidate Rhea Braun and undergraduate student Eliza Mills team up through UVA’s Double Hoo program to study bacterial movement.
Welcome to the Ford Group!
The Ford Lab's research centers around our common interest in understanding bacterial chemotaxis - a sense of smell used by bacteria to swim toward food and away from toxins. We collaborate broadly across disciplines (medicine, environmental engineering, and even music!) to bring novel approaches to the study of this fascinating phenomenon, developing mathematical descriptions that can be used to engineer chemotaxis to improve both the health of humans and of the environment.
In the Ford Lab, we combine experimental and computational methodologies to observe, understand, and model chemotaxis. These techniques include, but are not limited to:
Observation: Confocal microscopy, x-ray computed tomography, data sonification
Experimentation: Microfluidics, sand chromatography, nanotechnology, RNA sequencing
Simulation: Genome-scale metabolic reconstructions, agent-based models, and machine learning
We are continually seeking new students to join our lab and bring new expertise to our research.