Northeastern Hosts Conference To Advance Global Research in Mechanobiology
Northeastern’s inaugural Global Summit on Mechanobiology and Mechanomedicine Conference, organized by Ning Wang, professor of bioengineering and director of the Institute for Mechanobiology at Northeastern, brought together leading experts in mechanobiology from around the globe to share research and advance efforts to address pressing health issues.
At Northeastern’s inaugural Global Summit on Mechanobiology and Mechanomedicine Conference, nearly 200 engineers and scientists, including world-renowned experts, researchers, faculty, and students gathered in person and virtually to share and discuss research that promises to advance how therapeutics are developed and delivered to improve health outcomes.
Ning Wang, professor of bioengineering and director of the Institute for Mechanobiology
“The mission of the conference was to enhance human health and advance human medicine,” says Ning Wang, professor of bioengineering and director of the Institute for Mechanobiology, which was founded in 2023 and is one of the few institutes in the world dedicated to this interdisciplinary research. Wang organized the conference and presented on “What Are the Biological Principles of Living Cells?”
Commonly known as “the missing science,” mechanobiology aims to provide a critical link between many pathologies and their root causes as a way to develop therapeutics to improve health outcomes. Research at the Institute for Mechanobiology focuses on how cells and tissues respond to mechanical forces like pressure, tension, and compression. This leads to not only a better understanding of how cells and tissues function, but also how to address the most pressing health issues, like aging, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.
As a leader in this field, Wang assembled mechanobiology pioneers along with researchers currently engaged in cutting-edge work. They represented expertise in a broad range of disciplines, from mechanical engineering, biology, and chemistry to physics and generative AI.
At the start of the conference, welcoming remarks were delivered by Northeastern leaders including Srinivas Tadigadapa, senior vice provost for Institutes, Centers, and Impact Engines at Northeastern; Gregory Abowd, dean of the College of Engineering; and Carmen Sceppa, dean of Bouvé College of Health Sciences. They highlighted the importance of mechanobiology in human health and medicine and emphasized the interdisciplinary collaborations across the university’s global campus.
A keynote lecture was followed by plenary lectures, invited talks, and poster presentation sessions that were held throughout the two-day event. More than 140 individuals, including students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty attended in person. External sponsors included the University of Southern California, Optics11 Life, Bruker Corp., and the journal Mechanobiology in Medicine.
Plenary speaker Herbert Levine, University Distinguished Professor of physics and bioengineering
Herbert Levine, University Distinguished Professor of physics and bioengineering, delivered a plenary lecture that underscored the need for physicists and engineers to collaborate with biologists on hard-to-treat cancers and other diseases. He noted that some cancer cells construct and surround themselves with a protective barrier to disarm drugs or cells aiming to destroy them. By factoring in the mechanics of the barrier’s construction, future treatments could be designed to get around it.
Keynote speaker Shu Chien, professor emeritus of bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego
The keynote speaker was Shu Chien, professor emeritus of bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, a mechanobiology pioneer who provided highlights of his groundbreaking research on the forces of blood flow and its impact on the cardiovascular system. He is the recipient of a U.S. National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the President of the United States to recognize outstanding contributions to science and engineering. Chien was introduced by Arthur Coury, University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering at Northeastern, who also moderated a Q&A session.
“Before his research, people saw blood vessels as pipes, but Chien demonstrated that arteries are more than that; they are moving and oscillating,” Wang says.
Other plenary lectures were delivered by pioneers in the field of mechanobiology: Martin Schwartz, professor of medicine, biomedical engineering, and cell biology at Yale University, on “Vascular Endothelial Fluid Shear Stress Mechanotransduction in Development and Disease;” Dennis Discher, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, on “Tissue Rigidity Spurs Mutations & Goads Tumoricidal Macrophages;” Mary Bouxsein, professor of orthopedic surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, on “The Effects of Spaceflight on the Skeletal System;” David Weitz, professor of physics and applied physics at Harvard University, on “Cell Mechanics, Revisited;” Elliot Elson, professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Washington University in St. Louis, on “Biomechanical Analysis of the Transformation of Fibroblasts to Myofibroblasts;” Donald E. Ingber, professor of vascular biology at Harvard Medical School, on “From Mechanobiology to Mechanophysiology to Mechanotherapeutics;” and Song Li, professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, on “Mechanomedicine: From Diagnosis to Therapeutics.” These lectures generated intense audience interest and discussions on their potential applications in mechanohealth.
Some other notable research presentations included “Mechanochemistry of Collagen: The Potential for Direct Molecular Mechanotherapeutics in the Matrix” by Jeffrey Ruberti, College of Engineering Distinguished Professor of bioengineering; “Mechanobiology Through the Lens of Proteomics” by Nikolai Slavov, professor of bioengineering at Northeastern; and “Merging Humans and Machines by Harnessing Mechanics” by Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.
Additional research was presented by Northeastern experts and faculty from many prestigious institutions including Kevin Chalut, professor and Royal Society University Research Fellow at Altos Labs Cambridge Institute of Science, United Kingdom; Christopher Chen, professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University; Bo Huang, professor of immunology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China; Cheng Zhu and Ross Ethier, professors of biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory School of Medicine; Pere Roca-Cusachs Soulere, professor of cellular and molecular mechanobiology at the University of Barcelona, Spain; Peter Yingxiao Wang, professor of biomedical engineering and molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Southern California; Mian Long, full professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; Ming Guo, associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT; Wengong Jin, assistant professor at Khoury College of Computer Science at Northeastern; Hyeon Yu Kim, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern; Lei Wang, assistant professor of bioengineering at Northeastern; and Amir Vahabikashi, assistant professor of bioengineering at Northeastern.
Winners of the poster presentation session
More than 20 posters were presented at the conference and three presenters received awards. First place was awarded to Louison Thorens, postdoctoral research associate, bioengineering, who is an Institute for Mechanobiology fellow and is advised by Maijia Liao, assistant professor of physics at Northeastern. Second place was earned by Yilmaz Arin Manav, PhD’28, electrical engineering, who is advised by Benyamin Davaji, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern. Winning third place was Seyedeh-Fereshteh Sadeghian-Kiadehi, PhD’26, bioengineering, who is advised by Erin Cram, professor of biology at Northeastern. These award-winning posters were selected by a panel of experts in mechanobiology and demonstrated high-quality, original research.
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