Events Calendar

USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center Monthly Seminar Series

Speaker: Dino Di Carlo, PH.D., Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering at University of California, Los Angeles

Talk Title: Manipulating and Measuring Cell Mechanics for Medicine

Abstract: Cell deformability (i.e., the ability to change shape under an applied force) is a promising physical marker indicative of underlying structural changes associated with various disease processes and changes in cell state. We are combining precision microfluidic control of cells with automated high-speed image analysis for high-throughput cell classification based on intrinsic biomechanical properties. I will first discuss general strategies we are developing to passively manipulate particles and fluids using simple geometric modifications within microchannels. Our approaches make use of fluid inertia, generally neglected in microfluidic systems, to create well-defined directional forces and fluid deformations that can be combined in a sequential and hierarchical manner to program complex particle and fluid motions. Low complexity modular components to manipulate cells, particles, and fluid streams in which inertial fluid physics is abstracted from the designer has the capability transform biological, chemical, and materials automation in a similar fashion to how modular control of electrons and abstraction of semiconductor physics transformed computation. We apply these fundamental techniques to position cells for high-speed fluid-based deformation and optical analysis. The “deformability cytometer” instrument shows promise in identifying cancer cells, activated white blood cells, and stem cells in mixed populations – without labels - for a variety of clinical and regenerative medicine applications.

Biography: USC was selected to establish a $16 million cancer research center as part of a new strategy against the disease by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and its National Cancer Institute. The new center is one of 12 in the nation to receive the designation. During the five-year initiative, the Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers will take new, nontraditional approaches to cancer research by studying the physical laws and principles of cancer; evolution and the evolutionary theory of cancer; information coding, decoding, transfer and translation in cancer; and ways to de-convolute cancer's complexity. As part of the outreach component of this grant, the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine is hosting a monthly seminar series.

Host: USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Center

Location: Clinical Science Center (CSC) - #250 Harkness Auditorium

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Kristina Gerber