Engineering systems-level insights into complex brain pathology.
At the Wood Laboratory, our core mission is to decode the multifaceted mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders and traumatic brain injuries using rigorous systems-engineering frameworks.
Complex neurological diseases do not stem from single isolated pathways; they emerge from the systemic breakdown of vascular, neural, and immunological coordination. By unifying custom microfluidic platforms, validated animal models, and predictive computational network modeling, we isolate disease drivers with cellular-scale resolution.
Our objective is to deliver quantitative, reproducible findings that clarify underlying disease etiology and provide actionable therapeutic targets for clinical translation.
“By applying engineering precision to the tangled dynamics of neurodegeneration, we can systematically deconstruct disease progression and create real diagnostic clarity.”
Dr. Levi Wood
Associate Professor & Lab Director
Georgia Institute of Technology
Core Methodological Frameworks
Integration of Physical & Computational Sciences
Engineering microscale platforms to isolate cellular communication and recreate human neurovascular microenvironments under controlled hemodynamic conditions.
Integrating high-dimensional datasets through dynamic computational frameworks to uncover hidden regulatory signaling cascades in neurotrauma and dementia.
Collaborating with clinicians to map in vitro findings directly against longitudinal patient trajectories in Alzheimer's disease and acute brain injury.
Systems Engineering
Deconstructing neurodegenerative disease not as isolated molecular lesions, but as interdependent network failures across cellular systems.
Physical & Biological Integration
Combining microfabrication, biomechanics, and molecular biology to test cellular responses to mechanical stress and inflammatory shocks.
Institutional Collaboration
Anchored at Georgia Tech, partnering across bioengineering, neurology, and data science consortia to accelerate research impact.
Interested in collaborative research or graduate positions?
Explore publication records or inquire about multidisciplinary trainee opportunities.
A Decade of Systems-Level Precision
From the initial founding of Wood Laboratory at Georgia Tech to major NIH and NSF research programs, explore the milestones and bioengineering breakthroughs shaping our investigations into Alzheimer’s disease and neurotrauma.
Laboratory Founded at Georgia Tech
Dr. Levi Wood establishes the laboratory within the bioengineering and mechanical engineering cluster at Georgia Tech, establishing the core framework for engineering-driven neurotrauma inquiry.
Inaugural NIH R01 Award for Neurotrauma Pathways
Secured multi-year National Institutes of Health funding to map mechanical strain dynamics in microfluidic neural matrices following repetitive cellular stress.
First Microfluidic Human Blood-Brain Barrier Chip
Engineered a high-throughput microfluidic vascular co-culture platform replicating human blood-brain barrier shear stresses and tight-junction integrity under inflammatory stimulus.
Pivotal Alzheimer's Systems Biology Framework
Published flagship research demonstrating how localized computational network modeling predicts glial cell activation cascades prior to detectable cognitive degeneration.
NSF Bioengineering Multi-Institute Collaborative
Selected as primary lead for an interdisciplinary National Science Foundation initiative linking engineered neural microenvironments with computational transcriptomics.
Traumatic Brain Injury Shear-Perfusion Platform
Unveiled next-generation 3D microfluidic tissue chambers that subject living neuronal-astrocytic networks to calibrated microsecond hydrostatic impact forces.