Robert Meagher

Principal Member of Technical Staff

Author profile picture

Principal Member of Technical Staff

rmeaghe@sandia.gov

(925) 294-6847

Sandia National Laboratories, California
 P.O. Box 969
 Livermore, CA 94551-0969

Biography

Meagher’s main research interest is the development of novel techniques and devices for nucleic acid analysis, particularly applied to problems in infectious disease, biodefense, and microbial communities. Most recently this has led to approaches for simplified molecular diagnostics for emerging viral pathogens which are suitable for use at the point-of-need or in the developing world. He has also explored methods for sample prep for a variety of sequencing-based techniques for analyzing host-pathogen interactions, or analyzing microbial communities from the environment or the human microbiome. He is interested in microfluidics as a tool to enable novel types of analysis, and in integration of fluidics with optics, electronics, and mechanical elements to create field-portable and user-friendly analytical systems and instruments. He is also interested in environmental detection and rapid diagnostics for exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree: Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1993-1997)

Master’s Degree: Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1997-1998)

Doctoral Degree: Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University (2000-2005); Advisor: Professor Annelise Barron

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Sandia National Laboratories (2005-2009); Advisor: Anup Singh

Robert Meagher studied chemical engineering at MIT as an undergraduate and earned departmental honors, including the Haslam Cup for outstanding professional promise in chemical engineering. During his undergraduate years, Meagher had internships with BASF, Ford Research, and Intel. Meagher returned to MIT to complete a Master’s degree at the David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice, performing field work with Dow Chemical and Rhône-Poulenc. Meagher then spent two years in the oil industry with BP Amoco, providing technical support for global refinery operations including heavy oil upgrading, catalytic naphtha reforming, and hydrogen production networks. Meagher then returned to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering with a focus on bioanalytical techniques at Northwestern University, where he worked with Professor Annelise Barron on End-Labeled Free Solution Electrophoresis, a novel mechanism for size-based separation of DNA without a gel or sieving matrix. Meagher then joined Sandia as a postdoctoral researcher under the guidance of Anup Singh, pursuing studies in microfluidics and diagnostics for biodefense.

Research Interests

Molecular Diagnostics for Emerging Pathogens Meagher’s research group has explored alternatives to PCR, principally focusing on LAMP (Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification) to develop the simplest possible approach to pathogen detection directly from clinical sample matrices. This has been enabled in part by QUASR (Quenching of Unamplified Signal Reporters), a novel approach to detection in LAMP that gives rise to exceptionally bright, unambiguous fluorescent signals that can be read out with simplified instrumentation such as a smartphone. They have applied our techniques for detection of pathogens such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya, Ebola, and Plasmodium falciparum directly from clinical sample matrices (blood, serum, saliva, urine) with minimal sample prep, and are currently pursuing opportunities for advanced prototyping and testing of our methods. They are also interested in advancing the methodology of LAMP using model-predictive approaches to primer design.

Environmental Detection and Biosurveillance for Emerging Pathogens

Related to molecular diagnostics, Meagher’s research group is interested in detecting pathogens and other microbes “in the wild”: in environmental samples such as water and soil, in animals, or in vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks. One recent project in this area was the Smart Trap, for which they developed an automated “bait station” for detection of arboviruses in mosquitoes, based upon detecting viral RNA in mosquito saliva deposited upon a sugar bait. The prototype was field-tested in California for detection of West Nile virus, and they are actively seeking opportunities for further development of this technology.

Sample Preparation for DNA/RNA Sequencing

Meagher’s research group has sought to develop innovative or automated methods for performing novel types of library preps for sequencing analysis. This included for example automating aspects of DNA sample library prep on a digital microfluidic platform, and more recently employing a targeted capture-based enrichment technique for microbial transcripts to enable studies of pathogen transcriptomics in the presence of overwhelming host background. The capture enrichment technique enriches pathogen transcripts by several-hundred fold, allowing recovery of complete bacterial transcriptomes and has been used to develop new insight into mechanisms of pathogenesis for Yersinia enterocolitica and multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Microfluidics to Develop Innovative Bioanalytical Methods

Meagher has long been interested in microfluidics as a method to enable analytical methods or separation techniques that are difficult to conceive using conventional benchtop methods. This has included droplet-based emulsion techniques for highly parallel bioanalysis; microfabricated microstructures to enable on-chip preconcentration of analytes; and development of novel devices to enable microchip diagnostics. His interests in recent years focus primarily on simplifying microfluidics to enable easy, reliable operation with minimal resources (e.g. without requiring high-end microscopes and racks of off-chip instrumentation).

Publications

Robert Meagher, (2021). Biosensors and Diagnostics for Pandemic Response https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1895014 Publication ID: 76424

Eva Borras, Mitchell McCartney, Cai Thompson, Robert Meagher, Nicholas Kenyon, Michael Schivo, Cristina Davis, (2021). Exhaled breath biomarkers of influenza infection and influenza vaccination Journal of Breath Research https://doi.org/10.1088/1752-7163/ac1a61 Publication ID: 75481

Taylor Moehling, Yooli Light, Robert Meagher, (2021). Evaluation of Lyophilized Amplification Reagents for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 https://doi.org/10.2172/1841077 Publication ID: 75040

Robert Meagher, (2020). Biosensors and Diagnostics for Pandemic Response https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1830053 Publication ID: 71617

Robert Meagher, (2020). Thermodynamic Predictions of Primer Interactions and Impact on LAMP Assay Performance https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1768174 Publication ID: 72805

Robert Meagher, (2019). Smart LAMP for ‘no resource’ infectious disease detection https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1670872 Publication ID: 65357

Robert Meagher, Victoria VanderNoot, (2019). SpinDx – Platform for Point-of-Care Medical Diagnostics https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1670513 Publication ID: 65382

Robert Meagher, (2019). Engineering Isothermal Molecular Diagnostic Assays for Better Performance with Fewer Resources https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1640741 Publication ID: 69106

Rudy Jacquet, Annette LaBauve, Lavoisier Akoolo, Shivani Patel, Abdulelah Alqarzaee, Tania Fok Lung, Kunal Poorey, Timothy Stinear, Vinai Thomas, Robert Meagher, Dane Parker, (2019). Dual gene expression analysis identifies factors associated with Staphylococcus aureus virulence in diabetic mice Infection and Immunity https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00163-19 Publication ID: 67740

Christopher Phaneuf, Kyle Seamon, Tyler Eckles, Anchal Sinha, Joseph Schoeniger, Brooke Harmon, Robert Meagher, Vinay Abhyankar, Chung Koh, (2019). Ultrasensitive multi-species detection of CRISPR-Cas9 by a portable centrifugal microfluidic platform Analytical Methods https://doi.org/10.1039/C8AY02726A Publication ID: 64299

Robert Meagher, (2019). More with Less: Novel Approaches to LAMP Assay Design for Better Performance with Fewer Resources https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1602107 Publication ID: 67091

Christopher Phaneuf, Kyle Seamon, Tyler Eckles, Anchal Sinha, Joseph Schoeniger, Brooke Harmon, Robert Meagher, Vinay Abhyankar, Chung Koh, (2019). Multi-Species Detection of Cas9 Presence and Activity on a Portable Centrifugal Microfluidic Platform https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1583018 Publication ID: 64190

Jerilyn Timlin, Robert Johnston, Chung Koh, Jason Harper, Kyle Seamon, Christopher Phaneuf, Brooke Harmon, Tyler Eckles, Edwin Saada, Robert Meagher, (2018). Development of Rapid Diagnostic Tools for Detection and Quantification of Cas9 Presence and Activity https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1807018 Publication ID: 60458

Aashish Priye, Cameron Ball, Robert Meagher, (2018). Colorimetric-Luminance Readout for Quantitative Analysis of Fluorescence Signals with a Smartphone CMOS Sensor Analytical Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b03521 Publication ID: 59691

Robert Meagher, (2018). Molecular detection of emerging pathogens in low-resource settings https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1593656 Publication ID: 59499

Robert Meagher, (2018). Smartphone Assays for Detecting Emerging Pathogens in Low Resource Settings https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1567830 Publication ID: 59173

Robert Meagher, Aashish Priye, Yooli Light, Cheng Huang, Eryu Wang, (2018). Impact of primer dimers and self-amplifying hairpins on reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification detection of viral RNA Analyst https://doi.org/10.1039/c7an01897e Publication ID: 54746

Robert Meagher, (2018). Molecular detection of emerging pathogens in low-resource settings https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1497565 Publication ID: 60825

Robert Meagher, Aashish Priye, Yooli Light, Oscar Negrete, Cameron Ball, Sara Bird, (2017). Smart Phone Diagnostic Platform For Detection of Emerging Viral Pathogens https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1488912 Publication ID: 54747

Cameron Ball, Aashish Priye, Trent Braswell, Ron Renzi, Jonathan Helm, Lark Coffey, Robert Meagher, (2017). Smart trap for autonomous monitoring of mosquito-borne viruses https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1484092 Publication ID: 54374

Aashish Priye, Sara Bird, Yooli Light, Cameron Ball, Oscar Negrete, Robert Meagher, (2017). A smartphone-based diagnostic platform for rapid detection of Zika chikungunya and dengue viruses https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44778 Publication ID: 53465

Jason Harper, Robert Meagher, (2017). Single-Step One-Pot DNA Amplification & Electrochemical Detection via Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1460256 Publication ID: 57189

Jason Harper, Robert Meagher, (2017). Single-Step One-Pot DNA Amplification & Electrochemical Detection via Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1459063 Publication ID: 57050

Aashish Priye, Sara Bird, Yooli Light, Cameron Ball, Oscar Negrete, Robert Meagher, (2017). A smartphone-based diagnostic platform for rapid detection of Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44778 Publication ID: 47952

Robert Meagher, (2017). Quenching of Unincorporated Amplification Signal Reporters (QUASR) for Robust Monitoring of Isothermal DNA and RNA Amplification Assays https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1505912 Publication ID: 54859

Zachary Bent, Kunal Poorey, Annette LaBauve, Rachelle Hamblin, Kelly Williams, Robert Meagher, (2016). A rapid spin column-based method to enrich pathogen transcripts from eukaryotic host cells prior to sequencing PLoS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168788 Publication ID: 49972

Aashish Priye, Cameron Ball, Robert Meagher, (2016). Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP): An Insight into Reaction Mechanism and Application in Point-of-Care Diagnostics https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1410761 Publication ID: 47944

Robert Meagher, (2016). Inkjet Printed Emulsions and Microparticles for Single-Cell Analysis https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1410766 Publication ID: 47949

Robert Meagher, Annette LaBauve, Kunal Poorey, Zachary Bent, (2016). A Capture-Based Technique for Enhancing RNA-Seq Analyses of Bacterial Transcriptomes During In Vitro and In Vivo Infections https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1410767 Publication ID: 47950

Robert Meagher, Cameron Ball, Aashish Priye, Ronald Renzi, Yooli Light, Oscar Negrete, Sara Bird, Jaideep Ray, Lark Coffey, Cody Steiner, Sara Wheeler, (2016). An Integrated Microfluidic System Enabling Real-Time Autonomous Field Surveillance for Vector-Borne Pathogens https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1410769 Publication ID: 47953

Robert Meagher, Aashish Priye, Cameron Ball, Ronald Renzi, Yooli Light, (2016). SMART PHONE-ENABLED DIAGNOSTIC PLATFORM FOR DETECTION OF PATHOGEN NUCLEIC ACIDS https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1398856 Publication ID: 52656

Cameron Ball, Aashish Priye, Ronald Renzi, Jonathan Helm, Mark Claudnic, Stephen Mueller, Jaideep Ray, Chris Barker, Sarah Wheeler, Cody Steiner, Lark Coffey, Robert Meagher, (2016). Real-time autonomous surveillance for vector-borne pathogens https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1399658 Publication ID: 47083

Cameron Ball, Robert Meagher, Aashish Priye, Ronald Renzi, Stephen Mueller, Jonathan Helm, Jaideep Ray, Chris Barker, Sarah Wheeler, William Reisen, Lark Coffey, (2016). Smart Trap Real-time autonomous biosurveillance for mosquito-borne pathogens https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1529853 Publication ID: 51613

Aashish Priye, Ronald Renzi, Kunal Poorey, Robert Meagher, (2016). INVESTIGATION OF CELL TRAJECTORIES IN CHAOTIC FLOW FIELDS GENERATED BY A HELICAL STATIC MICROMIXER FOR RAPID CROSSLINKING KINETICS https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1373046 Publication ID: 51237

Robert Meagher, Oscar Negrete, Koen Van Rompay, (2016). Engineering Paper-Based Sensors for Zika Virus Trends in Molecular Medicine https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2016.05.009 Publication ID: 49980

Robert Meagher, Jaideep Ray, Ronald Renzi, Cameron Ball, Aashish Priye, Stephen Mueller, Cody Steiner, Sarah Wheeler, Lark Coffey, Chris Barker, (2016). Real-time Autonomous Biosurveillance for Vector-borne Viral Pathogens (SMART Traps) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1366891 Publication ID: 50751

Yooli Light, Minsoung Rhee, Adam Arkin, Anup Singh, Robert Meagher, (2016). Parallel Uniform Sequencing of Microbial Aggregates by Barcode Droplet MDA https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1371827 Publication ID: 50614

Minsoung Rhee, Yooli Light, Robert Meagher, Anup Singh, (2016). Digital droplet multiple displacement amplification (DDMDA) for whole genome sequencing of limited DNA samples PLoS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153699 Publication ID: 49971

Cameron Ball, Yooli Light, Chung Koh, Sarah Wheeler, Lark Coffey, Robert Meagher, (2016). Quenching of Unincorporated Amplification Signal Reporters in Reverse-Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Enabling Bright, Single-Step, Closed-Tube, and Multiplexed Detection of RNA Viruses Analytical Chemistry https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.5b04054 Publication ID: 41640

Robert Meagher, (2016). Real-time Autonomous Biosurveillance for Vector-borne Viral Pathogens (SMART Traps) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1365276 Publication ID: 49617

Robert Meagher, Aashish Priye, Cameron Ball, Ronald Renzi, Stephen Mueller, Jaideep Ray, Jonathan Helm, Chris Barker, Sarah Wheeler, William Reisen, Lark Coffey, (2016). Real-Time Autonomous Biosurveillance For Vectorborne Pathogens (Smart Traps) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1346114 Publication ID: 48664

Robert Meagher, Jaideep Ray, Stephen Mueller, Cameron Ball, Aashish Priye, Ronald Renzi, Lark Coffey, Chris Barker, Sarah Wheeler, William Reisen, (2016). Real-time Autonomous Biosurveillance for Vector-borne Viral Pathogens (SMART Traps) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1346115 Publication ID: 48665

Robert Meagher, Chung Koh, Yooli Light, Huu Tran, Cameron Ball, Anup Singh, Brooke Harmon, Oscar Negrete, Sarah Wheeler, William Reisen, Lark Coffey, (2016). Rapid Closed-tube Multiplexed Detection of Viral and Bacterial Pathogens by Isothermal Amplification with Streamlined Sample Prep https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1346116 Publication ID: 48666

Robert Meagher, (2016). Real-time Autonomous Field Surveillance for Vector-Borne Pathogens https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1364866 Publication ID: 49076

Aashish Priye, Cameron Ball, Robert Meagher, (2016). A smartphone actuated isothermal amplification platform for rapid detection of nucleic acid assays https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1342358 Publication ID: 46881

Aashish Priye, Ronald Renzi, Robert Meagher, Meiye Wu, Kunal Poorey, (2016). Investigation of cell trajectories in chaotic flow fields generated by a helical static micromixer for rapid crosslinking kinetics 20th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, MicroTAS 2016 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1399830 Publication ID: 47140

Sarah Wheeler, Cameron Ball, Stanley Langevin, Ying Fang, Lark Coffey, Robert Meagher, (2016). Surveillance for western equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and West Nile viruses using reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification PLoS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0147962 Publication ID: 45894

C. Ball, R. Renzi, Aashish Priye, Robert Meagher, (2016). A simple check valve for microfluidic point of care diagnostics Lab on a Chip https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1239335 Publication ID: 47447

C. Ball, Aashish Priye, R. Renzi, M. Claudnic, J. Helm, Yooli Light, S. Langevin, S. Wheeler, C. Steiner, L. Coffey, Robert Meagher, (2016). Real-time autonomous surveillance for vectorborne pathogens 20th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, MicroTAS 2016 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1398855 Publication ID: 52655

Robert Meagher, Aashish Priye, C. Ball, Chung Koh, R. Renzi, Yooli Light, (2016). Smart phone-enabled diagnostic platform for detection of pathogen nucleic acids 20th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences, MicroTAS 2016 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1347167 Publication ID: 48829

Aashish Priye, Cameron Ball, Robert Meagher, (2015). An automated smart-phone based detection platform enables real-time isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) for mobile healthcare https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1328101 Publication ID: 45859

Robert Meagher, Jaideep Ray, Ronald Renzi, Cameron Ball, Stephen Mueller, Yooli Light, Stanley Langevin, Sarah Wheeler, Lark Coffey, Christopher Barker, William Reisen, (2015). Real-Time Autonomous Biosurveillance for Vector-Borne Viral Pathogens https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1252909 Publication ID: 43334

Robert Meagher, Kunal Poorey, Annette LaBauve, Zachary Bent, (2015). A Capture-Based Technique for Enhancing RNA-Seq Analysis of Bacterial Transcriptomes During in vitro and in vivo Infections https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1255045 Publication ID: 43647

Robert Meagher, Jaideep Ray, Ronald Renzi, Stanley Langevin, William Reisen, Lark Coffey, Chris Barker, (2015). Real-time Autonomous Biosurveillance for Vector-borne Viral Pathogens https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1255763 Publication ID: 43669

Kunal Poorey, Anupama Sinha, Deanna Curtis, Kelly Williams, Steven Branda, Robert Meagher, (2015). A transcriptomic analysis of Yersinia enterocolitica biovar 1B infecting murine macrophages reveals new mechanisms of intracellular survival Infection and Immunity https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.02922-14 Publication ID: 40615

Robert Meagher, Ronald Renzi, Cameron Ball, Jaideep Ray, Stephen Mueller, Lark Coffey, William Reisen, Christopher Barker, Sarah Wheeler, (2015). Real-time Autonomous Biosurveillance for Vector-borne Viral Pathogens (SMART Traps) https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1240327 Publication ID: 42282

Robert Meagher, Chung Koh, Yooli Light, Cameron Ball, Sarah Wheeler, William Reisen, Lark Coffey, (2015). Rapid closed-tube multiplexed detection of viral and bacterial pathogens by isothermal amplification with streamlined sample prep https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1504585 Publication ID: 42196

Mais Jebrail, Ronald Renzi, Anupama Sinha, James Van De Vreugde, Carmen Gondhalekar, Cesar Ambriz, Robert Meagher, Steven Branda, (2015). A solvent replenishment solution for managing evaporation of biochemical reactions in air-matrix digital microfluidics devices Lab on a Chip https://doi.org/10.1039/c4lc00703d Publication ID: 41221

Steven Branda, Mais Jebrail, Anupama Sinha, Ronald Renzi, Michael Bartsch, James Van De Vreugde, Carmen Gondhalekar, Cesar Amriz, Joseph Schoeniger, Robert Meagher, Kamlesh Patel, (2015). Advanced Diagnostic and Sample Preparation Platform for Early Threat Surveillance https://doi.org/10.2172/1490544 Publication ID: 41223

Samantha Hart, Robert Meagher, (2014). Investigation of PMA-PCR technique for rapid detection of antimicrobial drug resistant bacteria https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1494247 Publication ID: 37781

Kunal Poorey, Anupama Sinha, Deanna Curtis, Robert Meagher, (2014). Using RNA-Seq to Understand the Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Yersinia enterocolitica Pathogenesis https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1714453 Publication ID: 40944

Anupama Sinha, Deanna Curtis, Steven Branda, Robert Meagher, (2013). A capture-based technique for enhancing RNA-Seq analysis of bacterial transcriptomes during in vitro and in vivo infections https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1120640 Publication ID: 36705

Hanyoup Kim, Mais Jebrail, Anupama Sinha, Zachary Bent, Owen Solberg, Kelly Williams, Stanley Langevin, Ronald Renzi, James Van De Vreugde, Robert Meagher, Joseph Schoeniger, Todd Lane, Steven Branda, Michael Bartsch, Kamlesh Patel, (2013). A Microfluidic DNA Library Preparation Platform for Next-Generation Sequencing PLoS ONE https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1072475 Publication ID: 32780

Corey Hudson, Zachary Bent, Robert Meagher, Kelly Williams, (2013). Mobilome of an NDM-1-encoding Klebsiella pneumoniae strain Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1113066 Publication ID: 34365

Robert Meagher, (2012). Ultrasensitive, amplification-free assays for detecting pathogens https://doi.org/10.2172/1057252 Publication ID: 31112

Steven Branda, Mais Jebrail, James Van De Vreugde, Stanley Langevin, Zachary Bent, Deanna Curtis, Pamela Lane, Bryan Carson, Elisa La Bauve, Kamlesh Patel, James Ricken, Joseph Schoeniger, Owen Solberg, Kelly Williams, Milind Misra, Amy Powell, Nicholas Pattengale, Elebeoba May, Todd Lane, Duane Lindner, Malin Young, Victoria VanderNoot, Numrin Thaitrong, Michael Bartsch, Ronald Renzi, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Robert Meagher, (2012). Characterization of Pathogens in Clinical Specimens via Suppression of Host Background for Efficient Second Generation Sequencing Analyses https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1141142 Publication ID: 28871

Numrin Thaitrong, Kamlesh Patel, Ronald Renzi, Michael Bartsch, Robert Meagher, (2012). Capillary PCR and Chip Electrophoresis for Rapid Detection of Carbapenamese genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1290193 Publication ID: 28872

Robert Meagher, Yooli Light, Suzan Yilmaz, Minsoung Rhee, Anup Singh, (2012). FISH ‘n’ Chips: Single-cell genomic analysis of complex microbial communities https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1294076 Publication ID: 28873

Steven Branda, Mais Jebrail, James Van De Vreugde, Stanley Langevin, Zachary Bent, Deanna Curtis, Pamela Lane, Bryan Carson, Elisa La Bauve, Kamlesh Patel, James Ricken, Joseph Schoeniger, Owen Solberg, Kelly Williams, Milind Misra, Amy Powell, Nicholas Pattengale, Elebeoba May, Todd Lane, Duane Lindner, Malin Young, Victoria VanderNoot, Numrin Thaitrong, Michael Bartsch, Ronald Renzi, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Robert Meagher, (2012). Copy of Automated Molecular Biology Platform Enabling Rapid & Efficient SGS Analysis of Pathogens in Clinical Samples https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1688623 Publication ID: 27929

Steven Branda, Mais Jebrail, James Van De Vreugde, Stanley Langevin, Zachary Bent, Deanna Curtis, Pamela Lane, Bryan Carson, Elisa La Bauve, Kamlesh Patel, James Ricken, Joseph Schoeniger, Owen Solberg, Kelly Williams, Milind Misra, Amy Powell, Nicholas Pattengale, Elebeoba May, Todd Lane, Duane Lindner, Malin Young, Victoria VanderNoot, Numrin Thaitrong, Michael Bartsch, Ronald Renzi, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Robert Meagher, (2012). Automated Molecular Biology Platform Enabling Rapid & Efficient SGS Analysis of Pathogens in Clinical Samples https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1067707 Publication ID: 27930

Robert Meagher, Numrin Thaitrong, (2011). Electrophoretic preconcentration at photopatterned membranes for microchip electrophoresis of DNA with picomolar sensitivity Analytical Chemistry https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1106828 Publication ID: 24972

Numrin Thaitrong, Hanyoup Kim, Ronald Renzi, Robert Meagher, Michael Bartsch, (2011). INTEGRATED DIGITAL MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORM FOR QUALITY CONTROL IN NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING LIBRARY PREPARATION https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1106744 Publication ID: 24974

Frank Zendejas, Robert Meagher, Jeanne Stachowiak, Carl Hayden, Darryl Sasaki, (2011). Orienting lipid domains in giant vesicles using an electric field Chemical Communications https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1073332 Publication ID: 28874

Robert Meagher, Peng Liu, Yooli Light, Suzan Yilmaz, Anup Singh, (2011). FISH ‘n’ Chips: Single-cell phylogenetic analysis of complex microbial communities https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1108170 Publication ID: 22677

Robert Meagher, (2011). Integrated Microfluidics Workshop https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1108179 Publication ID: 22679

Robert Meagher, Jeanne Stachowiak, Carl Hayden, Darryl Sasaki, (2011). Orientation of lipid domains in giant vesicles using an electric field https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1108653 Publication ID: 22077

Robert Meagher, Peng Liu, Yooli Light, K. Patel, T. Perroud, Anup Singh, (2010). Fish ‘N’ chips – A single cell genomic analyzer for the human microbiome 14th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences 2010, MicroTAS 2010 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1122973 Publication ID: 19204

Robert Meagher, (2010). Microfluidic tools for microbiome and metagenomic analysis https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1673532 Publication ID: 21119

Robert Meagher, Numrin Thaitrong, Anup Singh, (2010). Electrophoretic concentration of DNA at nanoporous polymer membranes for separations and diagnostics https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1031897 Publication ID: 20798

Robert Meagher, Peng Liu, Yooli Light, Anup Singh, (2010). Chip-based in situ hybridization for identification of bacteria from the human microbiome https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1031896 Publication ID: 20799

Robert Meagher, Kamlesh Patel, Yooli Light, Peng Liu, Anup Singh, (2010). FISH ‘N’ Chips : a single cell genomic analyzer for the human microbiome https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1030341 Publication ID: 20086

Darryl Sasaki, Julia Wang, Carl Hayden, Jeanne Stachowiak, Steven Branda, George Bachand, Robert Meagher, Mark Stevens, David Robinson, Frank Zendejas, (2010). Biomolecular transport and separation in nanotubular networks https://doi.org/10.2172/1008147 Publication ID: 19940

Robert Meagher, Peng Liu, Yooli Light, Anup Singh, (2010). Microfluidic tools for single-cell genomic analysis of oral bacteria https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1030343 Publication ID: 19660

Milind Misra, Kamlesh Patel, Julia Kaiser, Robert Meagher, Steven Branda, Joseph Schoeniger, (2009). Host suppression and bioinformatics for sequence-based characterization of unknown pathogens https://doi.org/10.2172/1000286 Publication ID: 16978

Robert Meagher, Yooli Light, Anup Singh, (2008). Microfluidic Laminar-Flow Extraction of Functional Proteins From Cell Lysate https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1142443 Publication ID: 15412

Robert Meagher, Yooli Light, Anup Singh, (2008). Chip-based concentration and identification of bacteria from the human microbiome https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1142374 Publication ID: 15433

Robert Meagher, Michael Kanouff, Ronald Renzi, Meiye Wu, Anup Singh, Kamlesh Patel, (2008). Micropore Fabrication by Overlapping Isotropic Wet-Etch Fronts for On-Chip Cell Handling Lab on a Chip https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1142552 Publication ID: 14877

Robert Meagher, Yooli Light, Anup Singh, (2008). Selective extraction of recombinant proteins by multiple-affinity two-phase partitioning in microchannels 12th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences – The Proceedings of MicroTAS 2008 Conference https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1143150 Publication ID: 14018

Carl Hayden, Robert Meagher, (2007). Multi-Spectral Detection of Microfluidic Separation Products https://doi.org/10.2172/1139985 Publication ID: 12273

Robert Meagher, Anup Singh, Yooli Light, (2007). Microfluidic Laminar-Flow Extraction of Functional Proteins From Cell Lysate https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1146629 Publication ID: 12147

Robert Meagher, Anup Singh, (2006). On-Chip Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction for Protein Isolation from Cell Lysate https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1264616 Publication ID: 8495

Showing Results. Show More Publications

Selected Publications

  • Meagher, R.J., Priye, A., Light, Y.K., Huang, C. and Wang, E. (2018) Impact of primer dimers and self-amplifying hairpins on reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification detection of viral RNA. Analyst, 143, 1924-1933.
  • Priye, A., Bird, S.W., Light, Y.K., Ball, C.S., Negrete, O.A. and Meagher, R.J. (2017) A smartphone-based diagnostic platform for rapid detection of Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses. Scientific Reports, 7.
  • Eid, C., Branda, S.S. and Meagher, R.J. (2017) A rapidly-prototyped microfluidic device for size-based nucleic acid fractionation using isotachophoresis. Analyst, 142, 2094-2099.
  • Wheeler, S.S., Ball, C.S., Langevin, S.A., Fang, Y., Coffey, L.L. and Meagher, R.J. (2016) Surveillance for Western Equine Encephalitis, St. Louis Encephalitis, and West Nile Viruses Using Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification. Plos One, 11.
  • Rhee, M., Light, Y.K., Meagher, R.J. and Singh, A.K. (2016) Digital Droplet Multiple Displacement Amplification (ddMDA) for Whole Genome Sequencing of Limited DNA Samples. Plos One, 11.
  • Bent, Z.W., Poorey, K., LaBauve, A.E., Hamblin, R., Williams, K.P. and Meagher, R.J. (2016) A Rapid Spin Column-Based Method to Enrich Pathogen Transcripts from Eukaryotic Host Cells Prior to Sequencing. PLoS One, 11.
  • Ball, C.S., Renzi, R.F., Priye, A. and Meagher, R.J. (2016) A simple check valve for microfluidic point of care diagnostics. Lab on a Chip, 16, 4436-4444.
  • Ball, C.S., Light, Y.K., Koh, C.Y., Wheeler, S.S., Coffey, L.L. and Meagher, R.J. (2016) Quenching of Unincorporated Amplification Signal Reporters in Reverse-Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Enabling Bright, Single-Step, Closed-Tube, and Multiplexed Detection of RNA Viruses. Analytical Chemistry, 88, 3562-3568.
  • Jebrail, M.J., Renzi, R.F., Sinha, A., Van De Vreugde, J., Gondhalekar, C., Ambriz, C., Meagher, R.J. and Branda, S.S. (2015) A solvent replenishment solution for managing evaporation of biochemical reactions in air-matrix digital microfluidics devices. Lab on a Chip, 15, 151-158.
  • Bent, Z.W., Poorey, K., Brazel, D.M., LaBauve, A.E., Sinha, A., Curtis, D.J., House, S.E., Tew, K.E., Hamblin, R.Y., Williams, K.P. et al. (2015) Transcriptomic Analysis of Yersinia enterocolitica Biovar 1B Infecting Murine Macrophages Reveals New Mechanisms of Extracellular and Intracellular Survival. Infection and Immunity, 83, 2672-2685.
  • Rhee, M., Liu, P., Meagher, R.J., Light, Y.K. and Singh, A.K. (2014) Versatile on-demand droplet generation for controlled encapsulation. Biomicrofluidics, 8. Rhee, M., Light, Y.K., Yilmaz, S., Adams, P.D., Saxena, D., Meagher, R.J. and Singh, A.K. (2014) Pressure stabilizer for reproducible picoinjection in droplet microfluidic systems. Lab on a Chip, 14, 4533-4539.
  • Hudson, C.M., Bent, Z.W., Meagher, R.J. and Williams, K.P. (2014) Resistance Determinants and Mobile Genetic Elements of an NDM-1-Encoding Klebsiella pneumoniae Strain. Plos One, 9.
  • Meagher, R.J. and Thaitrong, N. (2012) Microchip electrophoresis of DNA following preconcentration at photopatterned gel membranes. Electrophoresis, 33, 1236-1246.
  • Zendejas, F.J., Meagher, R.J., Stachowiak, J.C., Hayden, C.C. and Sasaki, D.Y. (2011) Orienting lipid domains in giant vesicles using an electric field. Chemical Communications, 47, 7320-7322.
  • Liu, P., Meagher, R.J., Light, Y.K., Yilmaz, S., Chakraborty, R., Arkin, A.P., Hazen, T.C. and Singh, A.K. (2011) Microfluidic fluorescence in situ hybridization and flow cytometry (mu FlowFISH). Lab on a Chip, 11, 2673-2679.
  • Meagher, R.J., Won, J.I., Coyne, J.A., Lin, J. and Barron, A.E. (2008) Sequencing of DNA by free-solution capillary electrophoresis using a genetically engineered protein polymer drag-tag. Analytical Chemistry, 80, 2842-2848.
  • Meagher, R.J., Light, Y.K. and Singh, A.K. (2008) Rapid, continuous purification of proteins in a microfluidic device using genetically-engineered partition tags. Lab on a Chip, 8, 527-532.
  • Meagher, R.J., Hatch, A.V., Renzi, R.F. and Singh, A.K. (2008) An integrated microfluidic platform for sensitive and rapid detection of biological toxins. Lab on a Chip, 8, 2046-2053.
  • Meagher, R.J., Coyne, J.A., Hestekin, C.N., Chiesl, T.N., Haynes, R.D., Won, J.I. and Barron, A.E. (2007) Multiplexed p53 mutation detection by free-solution conjugate microchannel electrophoresis with polyamide drag-tags. Analytical Chemistry, 79, 1848-1854.
  • Meagher, R.J., McCormick, L.C., Haynes, R.D., Won, J.I., Lin, J.S., Slater, G.W. and Barron, A.E. (2006) Free-solution electrophoresis of DNA modified with drag-tags at both ends. Electrophoresis, 27, 1702-1712. Statz, A.R.,
  • Meagher, R.J., Barron, A.E. and Messersmith, P.B. (2005) New peptidomimetic polymers for antifouling surfaces. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 127, 7972-7973. Doherty, E.A.S.,
  • Meagher, R.J., Albarghouthi, M.N. and Barron, A.E. (2003) Microchannel wall coatings for protein separations by capillary and chip electrophoresis. Electrophoresis, 24, 34-54.

Selected Book Chapters

  • Meagher, R.J. and Wu, M., “Microfluidic Approaches to Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) for Detecting RNA Targets in Single Cells”, Chapter 5 in Microfluidic Methods for Molecular Biology, (2016) ed. Lu, C. and Verbridge, S.S., Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.
  • Meagher, R.J. and Singh, A.K., “Microchips Containing In Situ Patterned Polymeric Media for Biochemical Analysis”, Chapter 21 in Biological Applications of Microfluidics (2008), ed. Gomez, F.A., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.

Awards, Honors, and Memberships

Selected Patents and News Articles

  • ‘Novel Micropores and Methods of Making and Using Therof’. Perroud, Thomas D.; Patel, Kamlesh D.; Meagher, Robert J.; US Patent no. 8,585,916 (November 19, 2013).
  • Bernstein, Jules. ‘There’s an app for that‘. Lab News. 25 May 2017.
  • Featured Photo of Smart Trap Assay Cartridge in the Department of Defense artilcle "Improvised Threats Organization Becomes Part of Defense Threat Reduction Agency" (2016)
  • Koning, Patti. ‘Lighting up disease-carrying mosquitoes‘. Lab News. 14 April 2016.
  • Koning, Patti. ‘Sandia researchers find clues to superbug evolution‘. Lab News. 22 August 2014.