Making the Difference
Good Chemistry
Innovator Lured by Great Faculty Support, Colleagues and Lab
By Lisa H. Towle
Carolina chemist, engineer and entrepreneur Mike Ramsey traces his passion for scientific innovation to a chemistry set he received as a birthday present in junior high school. Until his imagination was captured by chemistry, Ramsey claims he was a mediocre student.
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| Mike Ramsey |
It was also the gift that kept on giving. With his scientific interest sparked, the flame was fed by undergraduate work in chemistry at Bowling Green State University. Ramsey started laying the foundations for technology he would later pioneer— microfluidics or “lab-on–a-chip.”
Ramsey’s Ph.D. in chemistry from Indiana University was followed by work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he first focused on spectroscopy, a technique he used to identify single molecules. He established himself as a leader with an ability to persevere and attract project funding despite skepticism about new ideas—the practical uses for these tiny fluidic circuits, for example.
The lab-on-a-chip allows lab tests to be performed in miniature on silicon, glass or plastic chips that have been etched with a series of tiny interconnected channels through which chemicals and other fluids can run. These are then mixed in a miniscule reactor under the control of a computer. The technology has applications for everything from drug discovery to environmental monitoring.
In 1996, lab-on-a-chip won Discover magazine’s Technology Award, a NOVA Award from Lockheed Martin Corp. and an R&D 100 Award.
As the 21st century dawned, Ramsey was “getting antsy” for a new challenge. “I’d gone as far as I could go with regards to promotions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was looking for a new environment. Academia was calling, again, but this time I was ready to answer,” he said. At the top of his list was UNC, where a graduate school classmate and friend, Jim Jorgenson, W.R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Chemistry, had inspired Ramsey with his work related to reducing the size of chemical separation techniques.
“In addition to having friends and colleagues at UNC, I also liked the area—the proximity to the entrepreneurial spirit found in Research Triangle Park,” he said.
There were other suitors, but Carolina moved quickly, offering Ramsey the Minnie N. Goldby Distinguished Professorship. Established with a $666,000 gift by chemistry alumnus Steven Goldby ’61 and his wife Florence of Atherton, Calif., in honor of his mother, that amount was matched by $334,000 from the state’s Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund to create a $1 million endowment. Then came the coup de grace: Ramsey was also able to design his research group’s 5,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art lab space in Chapman Hall, part of the new Carolina Physical Science Complex.
“I had always dreamed of designing my own laboratory from the ground up,” explained Ramsey. “So to say the offer was a dream come true is not exaggeration.”
In the fall of 2006, Ramsey received a $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop his lab-on-a-chip technology. He predicts that in the next five to 10 years the technology could make genetic information so inexpensive that everyone could have their DNA sequence assessed. Such information could allow health care professionals to tailor diagnosis, treatment and prevention to each person’s genetic profile.
Ramsey was one of several Carolina faculty members to establish the Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence. The center’s scientists work together to quickly harness innovations in nanotechnology for the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
Ramsey said the opportunity to work with colleagues in the School of Medicine also made Carolina appealing.
“Through collaborations with medical school faculty we are identifying and developing important clinical applications for microfluidic technologies—for example, a clinical diagnostic tool that oncologists could use to quickly diagnose the effectiveness of a chemotherapy regime using a drop of blood,” Ramsey said.
“Our efforts in developing microfluidics has not only been enjoyable research, but it has also been satisfying to see commercial products that are based upon our work, and that they are being used for important problems such as drug discovery that will hopefully benefit society.”
(Editor’s note: This piece is reprinted from the Spring 2008 Carolina Arts & Sciences magazine.)
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