Properties of biological cells and human diseases
Subra Suresh
Professor of Engineering, Computational Biology, and Public Policy, and Henry L. Hillman President, Carnegie Mellon University
21st Century Professor of Biomechanics in Medicine, The University of Pittsburgh Medical School
Pittsburgh, PA
How do physical and rheological properties of cells influence human diseases? Conversely, how do the onset and progression of human diseases alter the mechanical and physical properties of biological cells? These questions will be addressed in the context of the three broad categories of infectious diseases, hereditary blood disorders, and human cancers. Detailed experimental studies employing microfluidics, and other state-of-the-art biophysical tools will be coupled with computational simulations to develop mechanistic understanding and pathogenic bases of disease states and to explore novel pathways for diagnostics and therapeutics.