Expertise

As part of the Center for Lung Biology team, we primarily focus on the mechanobiology of lungs. Several of our ongoing projects involve identifying the physical laws that govern migration, deformation, division, detachment and death of lung endothelial cells.

Research:

  • Intercellular tractions revealed
  • Moments of individual cells revealed
  • Sprawling "subdivisions" and narrow "boundaries"
  • Integrative Toolkit to Analyze Cellular Signals (iTACS)
  • Neighbors shape cellular behavior forcefully
  • Plithotaxis
  • Rugged stress landscape with local tug-of-war
  • Monolayer Stress Microscopy
  • Barrier function as a collective phenomenon

Keywords: Cellular biomechanics, monolayer stress microscopy


Expertise:

  • Physical laws governing the function of cells, tissues, and organs
  • Mechanical characterization of cells, tissues, and organs
  • Tools for life sciences researchers and healthcare providers
  • Monolayer stress microscopy and monolayer mechanics
  • Creativity-focused activities in engineering education

Expertise:

  • Mechanical behavior of endothelial cells and their microenvironment in pulmonary venous hypertension
Communities
Medicine, Pharmacology, Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Degrees
PhD, Brown University, Mechanics of Solids and Structures, 2008
MS, Brown University, Applied Mathematics, 2006
MTech, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, Mechanical Engineering, 2001
BS, University of Pune, India, Mechanical Engineering, 1999
Keywords
biological engineering mechanics vascular biology biomedical engineering bioengineering biomechanics tissue engineering cardiovascular physiology lung diseases cell & developmental biology cell interactions cytoskeleton scientific imaging
Languages
English, Hindi, Marathi
Honors

Professor of the year, Tau Beta Pi, University of South Alabama, 2015

Associations
American Thoracic Society
American Physiological Society
Biomedical Engineering Society
Biophysical Society
American Society for Cell Biology