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Megan McClean

Megan McClean

Associate Professor
gscholar website
lab website

Cells must sense and process diverse stimuli in order to survive and thrive. The McClean research group takes a bioengineering approach to answering fundamental and medical questions about biological signal processing with an emphasis on model and pathogenic yeasts.

Department

Biomedical Engineering

Contact

3156, Engineering Centers Building
1550 Engineering Dr
Madison, WI
p: (608) 890-0416

  • PhD 2009, Harvard University
  • MS 2005, Harvard University
  • BA 2003, Univ. of California-Berkeley

  • Systems Biology
  • Synthetic Biology
  • Cellular Engineering
  • Signal Processing

  • 2021 National Science Foundation, National Science Foundation CAREER Award
  • 2020 WI Alumni Research Foundation, WARF Innovation Award Finalist
  • 2019 Biomedical Engineering Society, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Young Innovator Award
  • 2018 National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award
  • 2015 Wellcome Trust, Frontier Innovator
  • 2015 US National Academy of Sciences, Kavli Fellow
  • 2013 Burroughs Wellcome Fund , Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface (CASI)
  • 2009 Princeton University, Lewis-Sigler Fellowship
  • 2003 Lucent, Lucent GRPW Graduate Fellowship
  • 2003 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Peirce Fellowship
  • 2003 Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, Member
  • 2000 Univ. of California-Berkeley, UC Berkeley Alumni Scholars Leadership Scholarship Recipient
  • 1996 Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Member

  • Harmer, Z. P., Thompson, J. C., Cole, D. L., Venturelli, O. S., Zavala, V. M., & McClean, M. (2024). Dynamic Multiplexed Control and Modeling of Optogenetic Systems Using the High-Throughput Optogenetic Platform, Lustro. ACS Synthetic Biology.
  • Harmer, Z. P., H"ohener, Thomas C,, Landolt, A. E., Mitchell, C., & McClean, M. (2024). Enhancing high-throughput optogenetics: Integration of LITOS with Lustro enables simultaneous light stimulation and shaking. microPublication Biology, 2024.
  • Shand, E. L., Sweeney, K., Sundling, K. E., McClean, M., & Brow, D. A. (2024). Live-cell analysis of IMPDH protein levels during yeast colony growth provides insights into the regulation of GTP synthesis. Mbio, e01021--24.
  • Stindt, K. R., & McClean, M. (2024). Tuning interdomain conjugation to enable in situ population modification in yeasts. Msystems, e00050--24.
  • Harmer, Z. P., & McClean, M. (2023). Advancing Optogenetics Research Using Lustro (Video)| JoVE. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments)(198), e65686.
  • Harmer, Z. P., & McClean, M. (2023). Lustro: High-throughput optogenetic experiments enabled by automation and a yeast optogenetic toolkit. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2023--04.
  • Scott, T. D., Xu, P., & McClean, M. (2023). Strain-dependent differences in coordination of yeast signalling networks. The FEBS journal, 290(8), 2097--2114.
  • Sweeney, K., & McClean, M. (2023). Transcription factor localization dynamics and DNA binding drive distinct promoter interpretations. Cell reports, 42(5).
  • Petersen, I., Cao, A., Goforth, A., Vena, A., McClean, M., Walker, B., & Krishnaswamy, B. (2022). Microfluidic chip for biosensing yeast cells. In Proceedings of the 9th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication (pp. 1–2).
  • Krause, H. B., Karls, A. L., McClean, M., & Kreeger, P. K. (2022). Cellular context alters EGF-induced ERK dynamics and reveals potential crosstalk with GDF-15. Biomicrofluidics, 16(5).

  • B M E 301 - Biomedical Engineering Design and Communication (Spring 2025)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Spring 2025)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Spring 2025)
  • B M E 399 - Independent Study (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 703 - Responsible Conduct of Research for Biomedical Engineers (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 780 - Methods in Quantitative Biology (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Fall 2024)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Summer 2024)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Summer 2024)
  • B M E 301 - Biomedical Engineering Design and Communication (Spring 2024)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Spring 2024)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Spring 2024)
  • B M E 703 - Responsible Conduct of Research for Biomedical Engineers (Fall 2023)
  • B M E 780 - Methods in Quantitative Biology (Fall 2023)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Fall 2023)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Fall 2023)
  • B M E 890 - Pre-dissertation Research (Summer 2023)
  • B M E 990 - Research and Thesis (Summer 2023)