About Myself

David C. Durán-Chaparro, Ph.D. I am a postdoc at Liam Holt Lab at NYU. I am from Bucaramanga, Colombia. Since my school years I have found a great fascination for Engineering, Physics and Biology. Trying to combine these interests I studied Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia while taking several courses in Biology and Physics. Then, during a time abroad at the University of Tübingen in Germany I discovered my passion for Biophysics and micro- and Nanosystems. During my undergraduate years, I delved into simulations of fluid dynamics, sparking my interest in microfluidics. Later, during my graduate studies I had the opportunity of deepening my interest in microfluidics and Systems Biology by working at the Harvard Center for Nanoscale Systems and Dr. Johan Paulsons lab at Harvard Medical School. During this time I started working with Dr. Juan Pedraza and pursued a Ph.D. in Physics where I developed a novel microfluidic device for studying aging in yeast cells. The main innovation of this device was the low pressure trapping of yeast by means of the slipstreaming effect (very popular in Formula 1, Cycling and Running). By investigating how pressure affected growth and aging of cells I found the work of the Holt Lab. After coming to the Holt Lab I started researching how macromolecular crowding changes during aging in yeast cells. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my wife Karen and two kids Maria and Matias and training for triathlons.