Cell and tissue mechanics
Physics-based models of how cells generate, transmit and respond to forces, and how tissues switch between solid-like and fluid-like states.
Research
We use physics to understand how living cells and tissues move, deform and organize. Combining theory, simulation and data analysis, we study how cells generate and respond to forces, how tissues switch between solid-like and fluid-like states, and how collective cell behavior sculpts organs during development. We also explore how cells, tissues and microswimmers such as sperm and parasites interact with the fluids around them, and we apply machine learning to medical data to connect this physics to diagnosis and disease.
Morphogenesis and collective behavior
How groups of cells move and organize together to sculpt organs during embryonic development, and how those dynamics go awry in disease.
Biofluids and microswimmers
How cells and tissues sense and respond to fluid flow, how flagellated sperm and parasites swim in the viscous, low Reynolds number world, and how changes in biological fluids shape the progression of disease.
AI and machine learning in healthcare
Learning from large-scale medical data to support diagnosis and better healthcare, informed by the physics of the underlying biology.