Microfluidics for healthcare and drug discovery
Dr Katherine Elvira, Canada Research Chair

Research

Drug Discovery

Artificial membranes as in vitro models for drug transport in the human body

Predicting the in vivo behaviour of a drug candidate early in the development process is challenging, and this contributes to a high failure rate in clinical trials. The Elvira Lab addresses this by using microfluidic platforms to design and construct droplet-based systems for creating lipid bilayers. Thanks to their modularity, these systems can be tailored to generate highly biomimetic environments.

Artificial Cells and Tissues

Building artificial cells and tissues from the bottom up

Cells are inherently complex. In the Elvira Lab, we use microfluidic technologies to construct artificial cells and tissues from the bottom up—that is, starting with fundamental components like lipids and proteins. This approach enables us to create custom-designed artificial cells and tissues to explore fundamental biological questions.

Microfluidic Technologies

Fundamental microfluidic research and engineering challenges

The Elvira Lab is dedicated to developing robust and innovative microfluidic platforms. To achieve this, we investigate the fundamental processes and components that underpin microfluidic systems. Our research focuses on areas such as surfactant development and kinetics, surface chemistry, droplet behaviour, novel materials and fabrication methods, as well as simulation and computational structure optimisation..

Commercialisation

Technology transfer from the laboratory to the real world

To ensure our microfluidic platforms have the potential to be used outside of academic settings, we aim to develop and foster close collaborations with industry and end-users, such as pharmaceutical companies. The Elvira Lab is always seeking new contacts and relationships, ranging from consulting to grant applications and projects, both long- and short-term. Get in touch.


If you want to learn more about our lab facilities, the CFI Navigator gives a great overview of the key equipment in the Elvira Lab.
For more information about my current research program, watch this video by Julian Sketchley.

Media

The Elvira Lab specialises in developing microfluidic technologies to build designer artificial cells and tissues. New drugs take 10-15 years to develop, cost ~2.6 billion USD each and many fail because we cannot predict how they interact with human cells. We build designer artificial cells on a chip the size of a postage stamp that mimic live cells. This is important because we can use them to test new drugs early in the drug discovery process and see whether they are likely to work or not. Our artificial cells are designed to give us insight into, for example, how cancer drugs behave in cells.

We are experts in many different types of microfluidic technologies, use our artificial cells to build artificial tissues and even dabble in making beer on a chip! If you are interested in our research, here we highlight some of our recent media interactions. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Using drug delivery systems for 3D bioprinting tissues
StarFish Medical blog, May 2025

The chemistry behind beer brewing is still shrouded in mystery, but tiny microfluidic chips could change that
The Conversation, October 2024

Miniaturizing Science - An interview with Dr. Katherine Elvira
Case Confirmed podcast, December 2021

New cancer treatments can be tested in artificial cells on tiny chips the size of a postage stamp
The Conversation, July 2021

UVic professors awarded provincial grant for brain tissue 3D print modelling
CHEK News, June 2021

Emerging Investigator Series – Katherine Elvira
Lab on a Chip, June 2020

Searching for breakthroughs in the miniaturizing of science
Times Colonist, April 2020

Team

Dr Katherine Elvira

MSci, PhD, ARCS

Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair and MSHRBC Scholar

Sean Farley, BSc

PhD Student

Seun Daini, BSc (Hons)

PhD Student

Paige Allard, BSc, MSc

PhD Student

Annabel Flint, BSc

Master's Student

Phillip Jurek, BSc

Master's Student

Dr Jolene Phelps, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Sarah Reid

Undergraduate Student

Click here for alumni.

Key Publications

See Google Scholar for a full publication list and metrics. Publications can be downloaded from UVicSpace.

Microbrewidics: A microfluidic platform to investigate what stabilises hop oil emulsions in beer
A. R. McDonald, J. L. Korner, D. Hanke, J. Kersen, K. Ramsay, A. Schauman, C. S. Stagg, N. York, E. L. Thomson & K. S. Elvira, ACS Food Science & Technology, 2024, 4, 2333

What’s really brewing in your beer? It turns out the chemistry behind beer is still full of surprises—especially when it comes to hop flavours. We're using tiny microfluidic chips to take a closer look inside the brewing process and uncover what’s really going on.

Challenges and opportunities in achieving the full potential of droplet interface bilayers
E. B. Stephenson,* J. L. Korner* & K. S. Elvira, Nature Chemistry, 2022, 14, 862

Artificial cells can be used to mimic features of living cells so that we can easily study how they work. Here we discuss droplet interface bilayers as a new and versatile cell membrane model, how they can be used in wide-ranging applications from drug discovery to biochemistry, and the challenges that remain to enable these model membranes to reach their full potential.

Biomimetic artificial cells to model the effect of membrane asymmetry on chemoresistance
E. B. Stephenson & K. S. Elvira, Chemical Communications, 2021, 57, 6534

The cell membrane changes during the course of diseases such as cancer, and this affects the movement of drugs into cells. Here we use our bespoke artificial cells to model this change in cell membranes on a microfluidic device. Our artificial cells are custom-built to model cancer cells. We show that this breakdown in the cell membrane might help explain why we develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs such as Doxorubicin. This paper was highlighted as part of the Emerging Investigators Collection in Chemical Communications.

A plug-and-play modular microcapillary platform for the generation of multicompartmental double emulsions using glass or fluorocarbon capillaries
K. Ramsay,* S. Farley* & K. S. Elvira, Lab on a Chip, 2021, 21, 2781

Would you like to use microfluidic technologies in your lab? This is not easy to do if you do not have a background in developing and using microfluidic devices. Here we have developed a plug-and-play microfluidic device that uses off-the-shelf components to make the actual device. They are held together using ``junction boxes'' cast from moulds fabricated using a bench-top 3D printer. Using such a simple set-up we can make complex droplet-within-droplet systems. Get in touch if you want to try one out in your lab, we might be able to mail you some junction boxes.

A bespoke microfluidic pharmacokinetic compartment model for drug absorption using artificial cell membranes
J. L. Korner,* E. B. Stephenson* & K. S. Elvira, Lab on a Chip, 2020, 20, 1898

How can we predict whether a potential new drug will enter human cells? We have developed a microfluidic device to create bespoke artificial cells made from the same molecules (phospholipids) that make up human intestinal cells. We can quantify how a drug proxy travels from the intestine, into an intestinal cell and into the blood stream. Our initial tests shows that our new model outperforms the current commercial technique. This paper was highlighted as part of the Emerging Investigators collection in Lab on a Chip.

Join the group

Undergraduates Students

Undergraduate students from all over Canada are encouraged to apply for an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA).

University of Victoria undergraduate students intersted in developing their laboratory skills and experiencing the research environment should contact us regarding CHEM 298, 398, 399 and 499 projects.

Graduate Students

We currently have fully funded positions for Master's or PhD researchers starting in 2025 on projects to build customisable artificial cells and tissues for drug discovery. Further information and application details can be found here. Please apply by filling in this form. To ensure the application process is fair, we will only consider applications received through this form, but you are welcome to get in touch if you have any questions. As part of the interview process you will have the chance to meet online with current group members to hear about their lived experience in the Elvira Lab and in Victoria. Experience with microfluidic technologies is not required – we can teach you everything you need to know!

Students eligible for NSERC funding should get in touch to discuss writing a proposal together.

After acceptance into our research group, all students will have to formally apply for Graduate Studies at the University of Victoria. Details about the support and expectations for graduate students, your annual stipend, the application process, and much more can be found here, especially in the Chemistry Graduate Handbook.

Postdoctoral Researchers

We fully support suitable Postdoctoral Research candidates in their application for external funding, such as the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships Program, Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships and Mitacs Elevate for collaborations with industry. Here is more information about postdoctoral positions on the University of Victoria website, including details about Banting deadlines (note that the University deadline is usually in August), and other available postdoctoral fellowships.

We would also like to hear from companies who might be interested in jointly employing a postdoctoral researcher to undertake a commercially-focused research project.