Lee Makowski
Professor and Chair, Bioengineering
Professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Affiliated Faculty, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Contact
- l.makowski@northeastern.edu
- 206 ISEC
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Social Media
Office
- 617.373.3006
Research Focus
Image and signal processing as applied to biophysical data designed to answer fundamental questions about the molecular basis of living systems, and progression of Alzheimer's Disease
About
Lee Makowski received his B.S. at Brown University in Physics, and Masters and Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering. After doing postdoctoral research at Brandeis University in Structural Biology, he joined faculty of the College of Physician and Surgeons at Columbia University in the Biochemistry Department. He moved to Boston University as Professor of Physics and later accepted a position as Director of the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Florida State University. In 1998 he joined the National Science Foundation where he was a Program Director first in the Biology Directorate and then in the Division of Materials Science. From 2000 until 2010 he was at Argonne National Laboratory, first as Biosciences Division Director and then as Senior Scientist. He moved to Northeastern in the fall of 2010. He is an author of over 100 scientific research papers and numerous review articles on innovative analyses of biophysical data with focus on x-ray and neutron scattering and x-ray imaging.
Education
- PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1976
Honors & Awards
- American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers Fellow
- 2017 Dean’s Award for Meritorious Service
Research Overview
Image and signal processing as applied to biophysical data designed to answer fundamental questions about the molecular basis of living systems, and progression of Alzheimer's Disease
Selected Research Projects
- Cultivating Biomedical Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Ghana
- – Principal Investigator, Northeastern University
- Localization of Fibrillar Polymorphs in Human Brain Tissue
- – Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- Nepal, P., Bashit, A.A., L. Yang and L. Makowski (2022). Small-angle x-ray microdiffraction from fibrils embedded in tissue thin sections. (submitted for publication).
- Bashit, A.A., P. Nepal, T. Connors, D.H. Oakley, B.T. Hyman,L.Yang and L. Makowski (2022) Mapping the spatial distribution of fibrillar polymorphs in human brain tissue. Frontiers in Neuroscience (in press).
- Liu, J. and L. Makowski (2022) Scanning x-ray microdiffraction: In situ molecular imaging of tissue and materials. Current Opinion in Structural Biology (in press).
- Djagbletey, R., Aniteye, E., Darkwa, E.O., Sarpong, P., Aryee, G., Ohene, B.E., Kpodonu, J., Makowski, L. and Smallwood, C.D. (2022) A Simplified Adult Expiratory Support Device: First Clinical Cases in a Low-Resource Setting. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 113(3), pp.1021-1025.
- Hossain, M.A., Richa Sarin, Daniel P. Donnelly, Brandon C. Miller, Samantha Watson, Jenifer N. Winters, Jeremy B. Conway, Durgalakshmi Sivasankar, Aparna C. Ponmudiyan, Tanvi Gawde, Sunanda Kannapadi, Yunqiu Chen, Jared R. Auclair, Joseph P. Salisbury, Roman Manetsch, Mary Jo Ondrechen, Gregory A. Petsko, Lee Makowski and Jeffrey N. Agar (2022) Protein crosslinking as a therapeutic strategy for SOD1-related ALS BioRxiv.
- Billiar, K., Donald P. Gaver, Kenneth Barbee, Anita Singh, John D. DesJardins, Beth Pruitt, Joe Tranquillo, Glenn Gaudette, Beth Winkelstein, Lee Makowski, Jenny R. Amos, Ann Saterbak, Joe LeDoux, Brian Helmke, Michele Grimm, Paul Benkeser (2022) Learning Environments and Evidence-Based Practices in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering. 10.1007/s43683-021-00062-z
- Packer, M.R. J.A. Parker, J.K. Chung, Z. Li, Y.K. Lee, T. Cookis, H. Guterres, S. Alvarez, M.A. Hossain, D.P. Donnelly, J.N. Agar, L. Makowski, M. Buck, J.T. Groves, and C. Mattos. (2021) Raf promotes dimerization of the Ras G-domain with increased allosteric connections. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (10).
- Makowski, Lee, Olson-Sidford, William, W. Weisel, John (2021). Biological and Clinical Consequences of Integrin Binding via a Rogue RGD Motif in the SARS CoV-2 Spike Protein. Viruses, 13(2),146. 10.3390/V13020146
- Huang, Lei, Wright, Michelle, Yang, Sichun, Blachowicz, Lydia, Makowski, Lee, Roux, Benoît (2020). Glycine substitution in SH3-SH2 connector of Hck tyrosine kinase causes population shift from assembled to disassembled state. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – General Subjects, 1864(7),129604. 10.1016/J.BBAGEN.2020.129604
- Makowski, Lee (2020). The Structural Basis of Amyloid Strains in Alzheimer’s Disease. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 6(5),2498-2505. 10.1021/ACSBIOMATERIALS.9B01302
- Ngu, Lisa, Winters, Jenifer N., Makowski, Lee, Beuning, Penny J., Ondrechen, Mary Jo (2020). Distal Residues and Enzyme Activity: Implications for Personalized Medicine. Biophysical Journal, 118(3),535a-536a. 10.1016/J.BPJ.2019.11.2937
- Ngu, Lisa, Winters, Jenifer N., Nguyen, Kien, Ramos, Kevin E., DeLateur, Nicholas A., Makowski, Lee, Whitford, Paul C., Ondrechen, Mary Jo, Beuning, Penny J. (2020). Probing remote residues important for catalysis in Escherichia coli ornithine transcarbamoylase. PLoS ONE, 15(2),e0228487. 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0228487
- B. Roig-Solvas, D.H, Brooks, L. Makowski, FiXR: A Framework to Reconstruct Fiber Cross- Sections from X-Ray Fiber Diffraction Experiments, Acta Crystallographica, 2020, D76
- B. Roig-Solvas, B.T. Hyman, L. Makowski, In Situ Saxs of Protein Deposits in Alzheimer’s Disease, bioRxiv, 2019
- L. Makowski, The Structural Basis of Amyloid Strains in Alzheimer’s Disease, ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, 2019
- H. Zhou, H. Guterres, C. Mattos, L. Makowski Predicting X‐Ray Solution Scattering from Flexible Macromolecules, Protein Science, 27, 2018, 2023-2036
- B. Roig-Solvas, L. Makowski, Calculation of the Cross-Sectional Shape of a Fibril from Equatorial Scattering, Journal of Structural Biology 200(3), 2017, 248-257
Jan 24, 2023
Faculty and Staff Awards 2023
Congratulations to all the winners of the faculty and staff awards, and to everyone for their hard work and dedication during the 2022-2023 academic school year. COE Distinguished Faculty Award Yun Raymond Fu, ECE Auroop Ganguly, CEE Luke Landherr, ChE Sinan Müftü, MIE Mark Niedre, BioE Alison Nogueira, Co-op Nian Sun, ECE Constantinos Mavroidis Translational […]

Dec 14, 2022
Doctors, Biomedical Engineers Assess Abuakwa South Health Delivery
BioE Chair Lee Makowski was featured in the BusinessGhana article “Doctors, biomedical engineers assess Abuakwa South health delivery.”

Dec 14, 2022
Ghana Biomedical Innovation Summit
The first week of December 2022, the Northeastern University Department of Bioengineering in partnership with the non-profit 4GBI sponsored two Bioinnovation events in Ghana. On December 6, the Ghana Bioinnovation Workshop was held at the Kibi Presbyterian College of Education in Kyebi, Ghana. On December 8, The Ghana Bioinnovation Symposium was held at the AH […]

Dec 14, 2022
Bioengineering an Impact with ‘Give a Hand’
Isabela Castillo, an undergraduate bioengineering student, started the Give a Hand club on campus, which develops prosthetic hands for those in need and works in collaboration with Enabling the Future, a global network of volunteers making medical devices.

May 11, 2021
Just What the Doctor Ordered
Human beings are some of the most complex systems in the world, and responses to illness, disease, and impairments manifest in countless different ways. When it comes to making sure that your system stays up and running, healthcare professionals typically have their own deep well of knowledge—but the addition of artificial intelligence tools offers unprecedented […]

Feb 08, 2021
Blood Related Complications Due to COVID-19
BioE Chair and Professor Lee Makowski is researching if there is a connection between a spike protein in COVID-19 and blood-related complications from the disease. COVID-19 can affect the blood. Its spike protein may be the culprit. Main Photo: Lee Makowski, chair of the bioengineering department, holds a 3D printed model of COVID-19 showing spike […]

Jan 27, 2021
Understanding the Most Dangerous Aspects of COVID-19
BioE Professor and Chair Lee Makowski published a perspective article in the journal Virus titled, “Biological and Clinical Consequences of Integrin Binding via a Rogue RGD Motif in the SARS CoV-2 Spike Protein,” which explains the most dangerous aspects of COVID-19.

Jun 25, 2020
Bioengineers Develop Innovative Respiratory-Assist Device as Alternative to Ventilator
BioE alumnus Craig Smallwood, PhD’18, invented a respiratory-assist device as an alternative to a ventilator for low-resource environments. BioE Professor and Chair Lee Makowski, in collaboration with physicians at Korle Bu Hospital in Ghana, has made the first few of these devices available for use on patients suffering from respiratory distress.

Jun 11, 2020
Distinctive Excellence: Our 2020 Rhodes Scholar
Kritika Singh, E’20, receives Rhodes Scholar, NIH OxCam Scholar, and Harold D. Hodgkinson Achievement Award.

Apr 01, 2019
Love of Science Leads to Prestigious Award
Minhal Ahmed, a fifth-year bioengineering student, was named the winner of the Harold D. Hodgkinson Achievement Award for 2019, one of the highest honors a senior can receive.