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Prof. J Christopher Love

Raymond A (1921) and Helen E St. Laurent Professor of Chemical Engineering
Associate Member, Broad Institute
Graduate Admissions Officer (Chem-E)

Primary DLC

Department of Chemical Engineering

MIT Room: 76-253
(617) 324-2300
https://cheme.mit.edu/profile/j-christopher-love/

Assistant

Mariann Murray
(617) 253-0632
mariann@mit.edu

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Micro/Nanofabrication and Surface Chemistries
Cellular Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Immunotherapy/Vaccines
Clinical Diagnostics
T-Cell Activation
Single Cell Analysis
Cellular Arrays
Nanowells
Circulating Tumor Cells

Research Summary

The Love Lab is exploring the heterogeneity present in populations of cells and characterizing the dynamic biological responses of individual cells subjected to defined perturbations. We develop new processes for analyzing large numbers of individual living cells quantitatively and dynamically. The primary approach uses simple technologies, based on soft lithography or unconventional nanofabrication, to measure multiple characteristics of single cells, and from those data, we aim to construct detailed profiles that describe the state and evolution of the cell itself or the multicellular population of which it is a member.

The long-term objectives of the Lab's work is to understand how heterogeneity in populations of cells affects their collective behaviors as a system, and to gain insights into the biological variations present in unique and rare cells from those populations. Another aim is to facilitate the transfer of these technologies into clinical laboratories for extended use in biomedical research.

Recent Work

  • Video

    Convergence of Engineering and Biology to Advance New Biotechnologies: Prof. Christopher Love

    November 19, 2025Conference Video Duration: 37:14

    Engineering principles and biological insights can open up new capabilities for biotechnology. This talk will highlight two solutions to challenges faced in improving patient care. First, applying basic principles in chemical engineering to the limitations in blood-based cancer diagnostics today led to new approaches to enhance the amounts of cell-free DNA recovered using a novel 'enhancing agent' similar to contrast agents used in other diagnostics. Second, leveraging biological insights to recast the engineering operations required to enable small biomanufacturing systems for distributed and lower capital-intensive production.

    Transforming Biomanufacturing to Empower the Bioeconomy: J. Christopher Love

    March 26, 2025Conference Video Duration: 35:36

    Transforming Biomanufacturing to Empower the Bioeconomy

    J. Christopher Love
    Raymond A. (1921) And Helen E. St. Laurent Professor, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering

    Advanced Design and Manufacturing: The Biomanufacturing Opportunity

    October 10, 2024Conference Video Duration: 22:30
     
    The Biomanufacturing Opportunity
    J. Christopher Love
    Raymond A. (1921) and Helen E. St. Laurent Professor, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering,
    Member, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT,
    Associate Member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard,
    Associate Member, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard

    Biotechnology is poised to enable entirely new manufacturing in the 21st century. The rapid advances in synthetic biology and genome-scale biology are powering new capabilities to make a range of products from basic chemicals to uniquely biologically-enabled products like tissues. Combining these 'front-end' technologies with emerging 'back-end' elements like continuous and integrated operations, automation, and AI/ML can enable new models for accessible biomanufacturing capacity. Growing new capabilities for biomanufacturing could transform the industrial base to enable circular bioeconomies that are both sustainable and prosperous.

    11.15-16.23-RD-Love

    November 16, 2023Conference Video Duration: 29:51
    The Promise of Biomanufacturing

    4.4.23-Health-Love

    April 4, 2023Conference Video Duration: 34:48
    Accelerating Manufacturing and Translation of Biologic Medicines Using Alternative Hosts 

    3.23.21-Health-J-Christopher-Love

    March 23, 2021Conference Video Duration: 16:51
    J Christopher Love
    Professor, Chemical Engineering
    Associate Member, Broad Institute
    Associate Member, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard

    J. Christopher Love - 2019 Life Science Conference

    December 10, 2019Conference Video Duration: 31:36

    Fast and Modular Manufacturing Systems for Biopharmaceuticals and Vaccines

    Recombinant biopharmaceuticals and vaccines represent a significant class of therapeutics and preventions. While the industry has established efficient platformed processes for the production of monoclonal antibodies at multi-ton scales, the improved precision of therapeutic indications and expanding molecular designs (such as bispecific antibodies, nanobodies, and others) add new challenges for the timely and cost-effective production of emerging therapeutic concepts. This talk will present an integrated approach to biomanufacturing that combines automated end-to-end production and purification along with a fast and engineering-friendly alternative host to enable a flexible platform for next-generation manufacturing. Examples in both biopharmaceuticals and vaccines will be presented.
     
    2019 MIT Increased Productivity in the Biopharmaceutical Industry Conference

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