Junsang Doh, Ph.D., of the Department of Mechanical Engineering/School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering (I-Bio) at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) will present the seminar.

Abstract: T cells are a type of white blood cells that play critical roles in antigen-specific immune responses. T cells navigate a wide variety of tissues and organs such as blood vessels, secondary lymphoid organs, and peripheral tissues to perform their functions for immune surveillance and immune responses. In order to mount robust immune responses, T cells must migrate to the right place in a timely manner. Chemokines as key biochemical regulators controlling global trafficking and local migration of T cells have been extensively studied over the last decades. However, relative little attention has been paid to the roles of biophysical cues such as micro/nanoscale topography, blood and interstitial flow, and mechanical properties of tissues/organs in directing migration of T cells. To systematically investigate how motility of T cells is affected by various biophysical cues, our lab is developing new experimental platforms based on micro/nanofabrication enabling precise control of various biophysical cues. Using these new platforms in conjunction with classical cell biological methods, we are investigating how T cells sense and respond to various biophysical cues.

Prof. Doh received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1999.  He then moved to MIT for his graduate work with Prof. Darrell J. Irvine in the development of multi-component protein micropatterned surfaces for the study of the immunological synapses formed in T cells during activation. He received his PhD in 2006 in Chemical Engineering/Program in Polymer Science and Technology.  As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Doh studied homotypic interactions among activating T cells in the laboratory of Max Krummel at UC San Francisco from 2006-2008. In 2008, he joined POSTECH with a joint appointment in Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering (I-Bio) and Mechanical Engineering. Currently, Prof. Doh’s group develops engineering tools such as microfabrication/imaging/mechanics to study fundamental aspects of immune cell behaviors and cell motility.

BME Faculty Host: Yoon Yeo~

***Coffee and juice will be provided at West Lafayette***

(via live streaming to SL165 at IUPUI)