Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 12:45pm to 1:45pm
Kirk Hall, Cherry Auditorium
Microfabricated cell-stretching platforms: applications
in cell biomechanics and beyond.
Iordania Constantinou, PhD
Professor at the Institute of Microtechnology
and the Center of Pharmaceutical Engineering
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Abstract:
Mechanical stretching is experienced ubiquitously by human tissues and their constituent cells and impacts biochemical and (mechano)biological processes relevant to health and disease. However, when it comes to laboratory experiments, the mechanical stretching that cells experience in the body is not often replicated, limiting the biomimetic nature of in vitro studies and hence the relevance of results. In this presentation, the importance of mechanical stretching during in vitro investigations will be established. Commercial, as well as, lab-fabricated stretching systems will be presented, as will example applications in cell biomechanics and beyond. Along with the advantages of cell stretching platforms, the limitations holding them back from mass adaptation will also be presented together with future perspectives..
Bio:
Iordania Constantinou is Professor at the Institute of Microtechnology and the Center of Pharmaceutical Engineering at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany. She holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cyprus University of Technology (2011), and a master´s (2013) and PhD (2016) in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida. After several years of research in the area of Organic Electronics, she shifted her research focus to microsystem development for biomedical applications. In 2018 she started her own research group at the Technical University of Braunschweig as a Junior Professor. Her current work focuses on the development of microsystems for applications in the life sciences.
Faculty & Staff, Students, Graduate Students, Undergraduate Students
Claudia Prior
401-874-2656
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