Meni Wanunu

Professor,  Physics
Professor,  Bioengineering
Affiliated Faculty,  Chemical Engineering

Contact

Social Media

Office

  • 329 ISEC
  • 617.373.7412

Research Focus

Our group investigates biomolecules at the single-molecule level. We develop nanopore-based and other nanotechnology-based methods for probing the structure and dynamic behavior of biomolecules. We employ optical waveguides and single-molecule enzymatic approaches for RNA sequencing, and utilize engineered nanopore sensors for applications in single-molecule proteomics. We are experimentalists, but we also use advanced computational tools to perform big data analysis.

Education

  • PhD, Chemistry/Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, 2005

Research Overview

Our group investigates biomolecules at the single-molecule level. We develop nanopore-based and other nanotechnology-based methods for probing the structure and dynamic behavior of biomolecules. We employ optical waveguides and single-molecule enzymatic approaches for RNA sequencing, and utilize engineered nanopore sensors for applications in single-molecule proteomics. We are experimentalists, but we also use advanced computational tools to perform big data analysis.

Wanunu Lab

Professor Wanunu’s research develops devices for studying biomolecules and biomaterials.

Wanunu Lab

Selected Research Projects

  • Single-Chain nanopores for electroosmotic stretching and sequencing proteins
    • – Principal Investigator (R01), National Institutes of Health
  • Synthetic mRNA Control Set for Nanopore-Based Pseudouridine Modification Profiling in Human Transcriptomes
    • – Co-investigator, National Institutes of Health
  • Engineering Tunable Portal Hybrid Nanopores for High-Resolution Sequence Mapping
    • – Principal Investigator, Oxford Nanopore Technologies
  • Multiplexed electronic counting of scarce protein targets using nucleic acid nanoparticles
    • – Co-Principal Investigator, National Institutes of Health

Selected Publications

  • “Unidirectional Single-File Transport of Full-Length Proteins Through a Nanopore.” Yu L, Kang X, Li F, Mehrafrooz B, Makhamreh A, Fallahi A, Foster JC, Aksimentiev A, Chen M, Wanunu M. Nature Biotechnology 41, 1130–1139 (2023).
  • Kang X, Wu C, Alibakhshi MA, Liu X, Yu L, Walt DR, Wanunu M. ACS Nano, 17, 5412–5420 (2023).
  • “Threading single proteins through pores to compare their energy landscapes.” Tripathi P, Firouzbakht A, Gruebele M, Wanunu M., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 119 (39) e2202779119 (2022).

Faculty

Jan 31, 2025

2024 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes those who published a paper in 2024 or later.

Faculty

Jun 05, 2024

Patent for Single-Molecule Protein Analysis

COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu received a patent to create a “Method and system for linearization and translocation of single protein molecules through nanopores.”

Undergraduate

May 08, 2024

2024 URF Scholars Recipients

Several engineering students received 2024 URF Scholars Awards from Northeastern’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. URF Scholars are students who are graduating this year and who have earned a PEAK Experiences Award, applied for a distinguished fellowship, or participated in graduate school advising.

Faculty

Mar 19, 2024

Patent for Hybrid Nanopore Design Enhances Biodetection

COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu received a patent for “Lipid-free anchoring of thermophilic bacteriophage G20C portal adapter into solid-state nanopores.”

Faculty

Mar 14, 2024

$4.2M NIH Award for Developing Tools To Analyze Individual RNA Molecules

COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu and BioE Assistant Professor Sara Rouhanifard, in collaboration with Anna-Marie Pyle from Yale University, were awarded a $4.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) for “Direct RNA Sequencing Using Electro-optical Zero-mode Waveguides and Custom Click Fluorescent Nucleotides.”

Faculty

Mar 05, 2024

Wanunu Receives Northeastern NAI Innovator of the Year Award

COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu received the Innovator of the Year award from the Northeastern University chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Daniel Braconnier, a recent mechanical engineering PhD graduate, received the student innovator award.

Faculty

Dec 07, 2023

2023 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above.

Faculty

Dec 02, 2023

Wanunu’s Research Featured on the Cover of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu’s research on “A Marcus-Type Inverted Region in the Translocation Kinetics of a Knotted Protein” was featured on the cover of the November 30, 2023 issue of The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Faculty

Aug 28, 2023

Wanunu Research Featured on the Cover of Nature Biotechnology

Research conducted by COS/BioE Professor Meni Wanunu on “Unidirectional Single-file Transport of Full-length Proteins Through a Nanopore” was featured on the cover of the August 2023 issue of Nature Biotechnology.

Faculty

Jun 27, 2023

$2M NIH/NHGRI Grant To Develop a Single-Molecule Protein Sequencer Based on Engineered High-Resolution Nanopores

Meni Wanunu, associate professor of physics and bioengineering affiliated faculty member, received a $2 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) for “Asymmetric Single-Chain MspA Nanopores for Electroosmotic Stretching and Sequencing Proteins”.

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