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Miss Delia Faris
PhD Student

Research Projects

Research area(s)

With a strong interest in progressing own previous research I have been engaged with over the years relating to the beneficial use of the electrotaxis phenomenon application in cancer biology as a means for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, I intend to continue conducting a number of experiments with the purpose of gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms of cell migration and how applied electrical fields can be used to preferentially attract cells to an electrode. There is much unknown regarding the influence of electric fields and metastatic cells, and so the determination of the underlying molecular pathways of which cell migration occurs in response to direct current electrical fields (dcEFs) is the main purpose of my research. All experiments thus far have been uniquely designed and executed with several more constructions of novel devices enablling electrotaxis experiments to be validated, to be created.

The areas in which my research explores involves the following:

  • Physiology, Pathology, and Anatomy - Electrotaxis phenomenon applied to various human cancers 
  • Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biomedical Engineering - Microfluidic and other novel devices

Research Interests

  • I undertook research exploring the optimum conditions for effective conventional electrotaxis methods via the application of negative and positive dcEFs to:
    • Weakly metastatic MCF7 breast cancer cells, as a previous MSc Brunel University student
    • Metastatic A549 and H1975 lung cancer cells, as a previous Brunel university research volunteer
  • As a current PhD student, I will implement in-vitro and in-silico investigative methods with the development of 3D computer models to better understand the electrically driven mechanism under which cell migration operates in bio mimic situations, using ovarian cancer and various other human cancer cell types. Microfluidic devices with micro-scale cultures and channels for micrometer dimensions that hold greater benefits when exploring the complex guiding mechanism of cell migration due to their high sensitivity and precision rates will be the core method of testing selected parameters