Download Cellular mechanobiology

"Cellular mechanobiology"
Jennifer Hyunjong Shin
Abstract:
Mechanobiology is an interdisciplinary field which merges the older science of mechanics with the
newer and emerging disciplines of molecular and cellular biology and genetics. At the center of
mechanobiology is the cellular process of mechanotransduction, or the way cells sense and
respond to various mechanical forces.
Many, if not most, of the tissues in the body are
mechanosensitive, which include osteocytes in bone, chondrocytes in cartilage, endothelial cells in
blood vessels, and epithelial cells in various tissues. In this talk, a few examples of these mechanosensitive cells under the influence of shear, tensile, and electrical stimulations will be discussed.
The focus of our research centers around how these mechanical (more broadly physical) stimuli
control the genetic program of a living cell to exhibit different phenotypes in relation to
pathological conditions such as cancer and atherosclerosis.
Brief CV:
2005-current: Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST
2004: Postdoctoral Associate, Harvard University
2000-2004: Ph.D. Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
1998-2000: M.S. Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT
1994-1998: B.S. Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT