Ruby Sullan

Assistant Professor
Chemistry
ESCB
EV566
416-287-7359
Research Interests:
Research in our group lies at the interface of mechano-microbiology and materials-biosystems interactions. We use a multifaceted and integrative approach to quantify, and elucidate the molecular mechanism behind the mechanical forces that stabilize the initial stages of bacterial biofilm formation on different materials. As initial attachment is the crucial pre-requisite for a mature biofilm, initial efforts in the Mechano-microbiology Lab will focus primarily on the early stages of biofilm development―that is initial adhesion and microcolony formation. Below are the key research themes that we are working on (see our Research Page for more details):
- Molecular forces in Bacterial Biofilms―at the single-molecule and single-cell levels
- Bacterial Rigidity Sensing
- Structure and Nanomechanics of Bacterial Biofilms
- Targeted Delivery of Anti-biofilm Agents
Teachings:
Awards:
Selected Publications:
- Sullan, R.M.A., Li, J.K., Crowley, P.J., Brady, L.J., Dufrêne, Y.F. Binding Forces of Streptococcus mutans P1 Adhesin. ACS Nano, 2015, 9 (2), 1448–1460.
- *Sullan, R.M.A., *Beaussart, A., Tripathi, P., Derclaye, S., El-Kirat-Chatel, S., Li, J.K., Schneider, Y.J., Vanderleyden, J., Lebeer, S., Dufrêne, Y.F. Single-cell force spectroscopy of pili-mediated adhesion. Nanoscale, 2014, 6 (2), 1134-1143. (* equal contribution)
- *Churnside, A.B., *Sullan, R.M.A., Nguyen, D.M., Case, S.O., Bull, M.S., King, G.M., Perkins, T.T. Routine and timely sub-picoNewton force stability and precision for biological applications of Atomic Force Microscopy. Nano Letters, 2012, 12 (7), 3557-3561. (* equal contribution) Highlighted in Upgrades for the AFM, Nature Methods, 2012, 9 (8), 778-779.
- Sullan, R.M.A., Li, J.K., Hao, C.C., Walker, G.C., Zou, S. Cholesterol-dependent nanomechanical stability of phase-segregated multicomponent lipid bilayers. Biophysical Journal, 2010, 99 (2), 507-516.