Dino Di Carlo, Ph.D.

A central theme of Di Carlo’s work is making advanced biotechnology more scalable and broadly usable. Rather than simply miniaturizing conventional laboratory methods, his group designs microscale systems that use fluid physics, biomaterials and engineered interfaces to process cells, organize biological interactions and extract functional information from millions of individual cells. These technologies are designed to work with infrastructure already present in many laboratories, including flow cytometry, cell sorting and single-cell sequencing, helping democratize access to powerful single-cell and single-molecule measurements.

One major area of focus is the development of “lab-on-a-particle” technologies, including nanovials: tiny hydrogel particles that can capture single cells or defined pairs of interacting cells in self-contained microenvironments. Nanovials enable researchers to measure what cells secrete, how they respond to stimulation and how they communicate with other cells, while preserving compatibility with standard cell sorting and sequencing workflows. These platforms are being applied to discover therapeutic antibodies, identify functional immune cells, profile engineered cell therapies and map how cell–cell interactions shape cell state and function.

Di Carlo’s laboratory also develops microscale biomaterials for tissue repair and immune modulation. His group helped pioneer injectable, interconnected microporous gel scaffolds that can conform to wound sites, support cell infiltration and serve as platforms for stem cell delivery, tissue regeneration or localized drug and immunotherapy delivery. These materials provide new ways to instruct cells in the body by controlling their physical and biochemical microenvironments.

A further translational focus is early disease detection. Di Carlo invented deformability cytometry technology, commercialized by Cytovale as the FDA-cleared IntelliSep test for early sepsis diagnosis. This work reflects a broader goal of using physical and functional properties of cells as sensitive indicators of disease state, enabling earlier intervention and more precise treatment decisions.

Across these efforts, Di Carlo’s research aims to build practical technologies that reveal how cells behave, communicate and can be engineered to restore health. By combining microfluidics, biomaterials, nanotechnology and single-cell analysis, his work is creating new foundations for regenerative medicine, cell therapy development, diagnostics and biological discovery.