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 have demonstrated that the rate of stress relaxation has dramatic effects on cell spreading, proliferation and stem cell fate.  Inspired by the viscoelasticity of native matrix, new medical adhesives with unprecedented adhesion energy have been synthesized from an energy dissipative hydrogel network and an adhesive component.

Bio: 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. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT.  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.

~BME Faculty Host: Taeyoon Kim~

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