Joseph Irudayaraj’s lab has developed highly sensitive paper-based lateral flow technologies for rapid and onsite cervical cancer screening. Utilizing Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM), Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), and Darkfield hyperspectral imaging, Irudayaraj’s lab has monitored kinase phosphorylation in live cells, mRNA expression at splice variant resolution (BRCA1), and loci-specific epigenetic regulation – methylation and demethylation dynamics. His tools can be applied to assess drug response and toxicity in 2D and 3D cultures and model organisms such as sea elegans and zebrafish. Currently, his group is integrating the concepts of super-resolution microscopy and deep tissue imaging to perform single-molecule experiments in living organisms. His lab’s specific interests are pancreatic cancer recurrence and Crohn’s disease, which are ongoing work in collaboration with clinicians at the Carle Foundation Hospital. They have successfully developed nanosized cellulosic oxygen bubbles for hypoxia treatment to address a range of cancers. They have further shown that oxygen nanobubbles can be guided by ultrasound for enhancing localization for targeted therapy and to increase the efficacy of radiation and chemotherapy.
Irudayaraj is a Founder Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and has professor appointments at Purdue University. As the CCIL’s Associate Director for Shared Resources and member of the steering committee, he helps develop the Shared Resource facilities and programs. Previously, he served as the Interim and Deputy Director of Bindley Bioscience Center at Purdue and Executive Committee member and Co-Leader of the Drug Discovery and Molecular Sensing Core of the Purdue Center for Cancer Research. Irudayaraj earned two MS degrees, one in Information and Computer Sciences and the other in Biosystems Engineering, from the University of Hawaii before completing his PhD in Biological Engineering at Purdue University.