ChE Texas Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Seminar – “Stem Cells and Viscoelasticity” by Dr. David Mooney (Harvard University)

Host: Dr. Adrianne Rosales; Texas Distinguished Faculty Lectureship

ABSTRACT

There is tremendous interest in the role of substrate stiffness on adherent cell behavior, but most current work ignores that tissues are typically viscoelastic.  We now demonstrate that the rate of stress relaxation has dramatic effects on cell spreading, proliferation and stem cell fate.  To exploit the impact of these properties at the single cell level, a microfluidic-based method for encapsulating single cells in thin layers of hydrogel has been developed.

BIOGRAPHY

David Mooney is the Pinkas Family Professor of Bioengineering in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute. His laboratory designs biomaterials to make cell and protein therapies effective and practical approaches to treat disease. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors.  He has won numerous awards, including the Clemson Award from the SFB, MERIT award from the NIH, Distinguished Scientist Award from the IADR, Phi Beta Kappa Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard College.  His inventions have been licensed by numerous companies, leading to commercialized products, and he is active on industrial scientific advisory boards.