Dr. Shaqfeh's current research interests include non-Newtonian fluid mechanics (especially in the area of elastic instabilities, and turbulent drag reduction), nonequilibrium polymer statistical dynamics (focusing on single molecules studies of DNA), and suspension mechanics (particularly of fiber suspensions and particles/vesicles in microfluidics). He has authored or co-authored over 180 publications and has been an Associate Editor of the Physics of Fluids since 2006.

Dr. Shaqfeh's research program includes the study of different areas associated with transport in complex fluids including: a) the occurrence of purely elastic instabilities in polymer flows, b) the micro-dynamics of polymer molecules, including DNA, in nonequilibrium transport, c) the flow behavior of fiber suspensions, d) the general microfluidic flow behavior of complex fluids and, most recently, e) the stability of compressible boundary layer flows. Their approach in these areas includes developing large scale simulations (including both Brownian dynamics and continuum simulation) of poorly understood phenomena and then couple these to detailed experiments to elucidate the important physics in a variety of processes.