Ran Tao

Biophysics · Active Matter · Microfluidics · Microbiology

Ran Tao

I study how living matter moves through complex environments — from bacteria swimming upstream and biofilms dispersing, to microorganisms sorting by shape and length. My work spans active matter, microfluidics, and microbiology.

See publicationsResearch themes
Ran Tao

Ph.D. Candidate, Physics — University of Pennsylvania

M.A. Candidate, Statistics & Data Science — Wharton

B.S. Physics (Highest Honors) & B.S. Applied Math — Emory

Mathijssen Lab · Penn Biophysics

Scroll

About

Physicist studying living, swimming matter

My research sits at the intersection of soft matter physics, microbial biology, and engineered microenvironments — building tools and theory to understand how cells navigate flow, geometry, and chemistry.

Active matter

Collective motion of self-propelled cells in confined and complex environments.

Microfluidics

Lab-on-chip devices to sort, trap, and observe single bacteria with precision.

Quantitative microbiology

From V. cholerae biofilm dispersal to AMR diagnostics — physics meets the clinic.

Themes

Research

The physics of living, swimming matter — how cells navigate flow, geometry, and chemistry.

Cell Newton cover
01

Bacterial upstream invasion

Flagellated bacteria swim against ambient flow and invade microstructured devices through hydrodynamic boundary interactions.

PNAS 2024 rheotaxis figure
02

Complex fluids & rheotaxis

Polymeric and viscoelastic fluids dramatically enhance bacterial upstream swimming.

PNAS 2025 biofilm dispersal
03

Nitric oxide & biofilm dispersal

NO rapidly switches V. cholerae from sessile biofilm to a hyper-motile state, accelerating dispersal.

Topological lattice device
04

Topological separation

Periodic microfluidic lattices act as topological filters for bacterial active matter.

Multiflagellarity bacteria
05

Multiflagellarity & morphology

Cell shape and flagellar number jointly govern upstream invasion success.

AMR diagnostic chip
06

AMR diagnostics

Microfluidic AMR phenotyping for urinary tract infections — fast single-cell readouts.

Selected publication

Featured work

A spotlight on a recent publication that captures the lab's current direction.

Cell Newton journal front cover — bacterial upstream invasion
Cell Newton

Invasion of bacteria swimming upstream into microstructured devices

Ran Tao, Albane Théry, Suya Que, A. J. T. M. Mathijssen

2, 100337 (2025) — Front Cover

We show how flagellated bacteria invade microstructured devices by swimming upstream, mapping the boundary-driven hydrodynamics that funnel them through complex geometries.

PaperDOI

Archive

Publications

Research in microbial motility, active matter, microfluidics, complex fluids, and soft matter physics.

Full archive
Cross-phylum quorum sensing and cholera microbiota — fluorescence microscopy
Under Review
Under review at Nature

Cross-phylum quorum sensing in dysbiosis drives cholera pathogenesis and microbiota structure

Topological separation of bacteria in lattice microfluidic device
In Preparation
In preparationFirst Author

Topological separation of bacterial active matter

Bacterial invasion racing — multiflagellarity and upstream invasion
In Preparation
In preparationFirst Author

Multiflagellarity facilitates bacterial upstream invasion

AMR diagnostics — parallelized microfluidic array for urinary tract infection
In Preparation
In preparationFirst Author

Antimicrobial resistance risks urinary tract infection

Curriculum vitae

CV

Selected education, positions, and honors.

Education

  • Ph.D., Physics

    University of Pennsylvania · in progress

  • M.A., Statistics & Data Science

    Wharton School, UPenn · in progress

  • B.S., Physics (Highest Honors) & Applied Math

    Emory University

Positions

  • Graduate Researcher

    Mathijssen Lab · Penn Biophysics

  • Undergraduate Researcher

    Weeks Lab · Emory (soft matter & clogging)

Honors

  • Dissertation Completion Fellowship

    University of Pennsylvania · 2026 · $90,000

  • Dean's Scholar

    University of Pennsylvania · 2026 · awarded annually to the school's top 10 graduate students

  • Elias Burstein Prize

    University of Pennsylvania · 2026 · top condensed matter graduate student

  • DSOFT Future Investigator Award

    American Physical Society · 2023

  • Ella N. Pawling Graduate Fellowship

    University of Pennsylvania · 2021–2022 · first-year tuition & stipend ($80k+)

Get in touch

Contact

Open to collaborations across biophysics, active matter, microfluidic design, and quantitative microbiology.

Affiliation
Mathijssen Lab · Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA