Research labs at Wake Forest University .

Anthony Atala Research Group

Regenerative medicineTissue engineeringBioprinting

Anthony Atala · Professor

Atala connects surgical questions with the engineering of living tissues. His regenerative-medicine research investigates cells, scaffolds, and tissue fabrication, with bioprinting among the approaches described by Wake Forest. Listed research also includes engineered ovarian tissue and three-dimensional organoid models for investigating biological responses. As director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, he works at the intersection of reconstructive medicine and experimental tissue engineering. The distinctive research challenge is building structures that do more than resemble tissue: they must support living cells and relevant biological function.

DCIndependently curated · Unclaimed

David Carroll Research Group

Quantum materialsCondensed matterQuantum computing

David Carroll · Professor

Carroll investigates how dimension, topology, and symmetry shape the behavior of quantum materials. His group studies low-dimensional condensed-matter systems and explores quantum-computing architectures, including topologically stabilized qubits and neuromorphic approaches. A September 2026 Wake Forest report describes his leadership of the NanoteQ research effort and work toward silicon-based qubits and processors that operate at room temperature. These are research directions rather than a promise of a finished computing product. The appeal is a close connection between fundamental materials physics and the design of possible future quantum information technologies.

EHIndependently curated · Unclaimed

Erin Henslee Research Group

Cell electrophysiologyLab-on-a-chipBiomedical engineering

Erin Henslee · Associate Professor

Henslee studies cells through their electrical properties, using miniature assays to ask questions that conventional measurements may miss. Her research connects lab-on-a-chip engineering with disease, drug resistance, circadian biology, and cell patterning. Published work listed by Wake Forest includes measurements of extracellular electrical signals in red blood cells, while her wider research examines how these cell properties relate to biological behavior. The group is a fit for interests at the boundary of biomedical instrumentation and cell biology, where designing a measurement tool and understanding the living system develop together.

SSIndependently curated · Unclaimed

Shay Soker Research Group

OrganoidsExtracellular matrixTissue engineering

Shay Soker · Professor

Soker builds small tissue models to investigate how organs develop and how disease changes them. His laboratory combines cell sources, extracellular-matrix scaffolds, tissue vascularization, and imaging to construct bioengineered tissues. Work described by Wake Forest includes miniature human liver constructs and organoids for studying fibrosis, cancer, and drug responses. He also leads the scientific program of the Wake Forest Organoid Research Center. For prospective researchers, this offers a connection between regenerative engineering and disease modeling, with patient-derived cells and three-dimensional tissue environments helping frame more realistic experimental questions.

UBIndependently curated · Unclaimed

Ulrich Bierbach Research Group

Medicinal chemistryPlatinum-acridineCancer therapeutics

Ulrich Bierbach · Professor

Bierbach designs drug candidates that combine organic molecules with metal-based chemistry. His laboratory investigates platinum-acridine hybrid anticancer agents, linking chemical structure with biological activity and mechanisms of action. Research listed by Wake Forest includes identifying DNA targets, examining how membrane transport influences activity, and studying relationships between gene expression and drug sensitivity. The group also explores delivery formulations, including liposomal approaches. This is a preclinical research setting for people interested in medicinal and inorganic chemistry, where synthesizing a compound is paired with investigating how it reaches and affects cancer cells.