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SUMMARY:IGM Colloquium: Soft-MEMS for mechanobiology
DTSTART:20180220T121500
DTEND:20180220T131500
DTSTAMP:20260407T145415Z
UID:d4cab08e44e5e848d041ca25cf99b722b87191b948a006aa3db82a42
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Cristina Martin-Olmos\, CSEM\nOur research focuses in deve
 loping soft-MEMS devices that enable fast and accurate mechanical measurem
 ents of single cells and/or cell monolayers. These devices are cost-effect
 ive\, compact and cell culture compatible\, allowing\, therefore\, continu
 ous measurements for drug screening assessment.\n\nFor centuries\, medical
  doctors have used palpation exploration as a part of their examination to
  detect lumps or masses. This is used to feel the texture of a patient’s
  tissue\, gauge its stiffness or reaction to the applied pressure. When pa
 rts are detected with a distinct stiffness that is often flagged as an ear
 ly warning sign for disease.\nThanks to the advances in technology\, over 
 the past 2-3 decades a new field of research has been developed called mec
 hanobiology\, which is the study of cellular and tissue mechanical propert
 ies and its relation with fundamental cellular processes. Many different m
 ethods have successfully been used to determine the mechanical properties 
 of cells and even link them to many different diseases. However\, a charac
 terization tool that meets the requirements of the research field\, i.e. h
 igh resolution\, high-throughput\, easy to operate\, cost-effective\, comp
 atible with standard biological equipment\, and able to characterize both 
 cells and tissues\; is still missing. One of the main reasons is the inter
 disciplinary nature of this field\, where engineering meets bio-medicine\;
  and reconciling these two radically different ways of doing research is a
  great obstacle to overcome.\nOur research work aims to bridge this gap by
  developing a tool that meets all the above mentioned requirements. The ch
 osen approach is based on the use of soft microelectromechanical system (M
 EMS). This will yield a very sensitive device that is able to detect force
 s and stiffness.\n\nBio:\nDr. Cristina Martin-Olmos holds a PhD in polymer
  MEMs since 2008 (Barcelona). Subsequently she worked as a postdoc\, first
  with Prof. Juergen Brugger at EPFL and then with Prof. James K. Gimzewski
  at UCLA\, where she  broadened her background in life science applicatio
 ns and mechanobiology. Since January 2015 she is an Ambizione fellow at CS
 EM SA.
LOCATION:MED 0 1418 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MED%200%201418
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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