Eno E. Ebong

Associate Professor,  Chemical Engineering
Associate Professor,  Bioengineering
Affiliated Faculty,  Biology

Contact

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Office

  • 221 ISEC
  • 617.373.8744

Lab

  • 275C ISEC
  • 617.373.7238

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Research Focus

Studying the means by which endothelial cell mechanotransduction occurs in order to prevent or promote diseases related to blood vessel dysfunction

About

Joined Northeastern University in Fall 2013.

Directs the “Ebong Mechanobiology Laboratory”, where research currently focuses on studying how the mechanical forces of blood flow and tissue stiffness affect endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels and guard them from dysfunction that leads to diseases like atherosclerosis, cancer metastasis, and neurodegeneration. Much of the research focus is on studying the structure and function of the protective gel-like layer of sugar molecules and proteins coating the surface of the endothelial cells—called the glycocalyx—to understand, on a molecular level, how mechanobiology remodels the endothelial cells to facilitate protection from disease. This glycocalyx structure gives endothelial cells the resilience they need to withstand the raucous mechanical environment that they are subjected to, especially due to dynamic blood flows at the vessel branch points. Glycocalyx sheds in the presence of disease, so it is of great interest to study how gradual glycocalyx degradation initiates and promotes pathology. The “Ebong Mechanobiology Laboratory” constructs in vitro fluid-solid systems comprised of endothelial cells co-cultured with support cells, to replicate both healthy and disruptive conditions and to uncover the intricacies of the mechanics-glycocalyx-endothelial cell relationship. This work is combined with live animal studies to assess the validity of the findings, in real disease conditions. Other approaches include biomaterials, state-of-the-art electron microscopy (mainly rapid freezing/freeze substitution preservation and transmission electron microscopy), advanced biological imaging of cells and animals, RNA interference techniques, fluorescent intracellular biomarkers, protein biochemistry, and more. Our discoveries are being applied to the development of therapies and nanomedicine-based drug delivery tools that target mechanobiology, endothelial cells, and the glycocalyx to prevent and/or reverse disease.

Education

  • B.S. (Mechanical Engineering) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999
  • M.Eng. (Biomedical Engineering) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2001
  • Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2006
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship Albert Einstein College of Medicine and CUNY City College of New York, 2007-2012

Honors & Awards

  • 2024 Diversity Recognition Award
  • 2020 Frontiers of Engineering Symposium Invited Attendee, NAE
  • NIH Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award
  • NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award
  • Gordon Research Conference Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority Fellow
  • Northeastern University College of Engineering Faculty Fellow

Research Overview

Studying the means by which endothelial cell mechanotransduction occurs in order to prevent or promote diseases related to blood vessel dysfunction

Mechanobiology Lab

Professor Ebong’s research focuses on studying the effects of the mechan­ical forces of blood flow on the endothe­lial cells that line and pro­tect our blood vessels—work that is aimed at advancing vas­cular dis­ease treatment.

Mechanobiology Lab

Selected Research Projects

Selected Publications

  • Xu, Suowen, Ilyas, Iqra, Little, Peter J., Li, Hong, Kamato, Danielle, Zheng, Xueying, Luo, Sihui, Li, Zhuoming, Liu, Peiqing, Han, Jihong, Harding, Ian C., Ebong, Eno E., Cameron, Scott J., Stewart, Alastair G., Weng, Jianping. (2021). Endothelial Dysfunction in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases and Beyond: From Mechanism to Pharmacotherapies. Pharmacological Reviews. 73(3):924-967. 10.1124/pharmrev.120.000096
  • Nian, Keqing, Harding, Ian C., Herman, Ira M., Ebong, Eno E. (2021). Blood-Brain Barrier Damage in Ischemic Stroke and Its Regulation by Endothelial Mechanotransduction. Frontiers in Physiology, 1:605398. 10.3389/fphys.2020.605398
  • Nian, Keqing, Harding, Ian C., Herman, Ira M., Ebong, Eno E. (2021). Blood-Brain Barrier Damage in Ischemic Stroke and Its Regulation by Endothelial Mechanotransduction. Frontiers in Physiology, 1:605398. 10.3389/fphys.2020.605398
  • Mensah, Solomon A., Nersesyan, Alina, Harding, Ian C., Lee, Claire I., Tan, Xuefei, Banerjee, Selina, Niedre, Mark J.,Torchilin, Vladimir P., Ebong, Eno E. (2020). Flow-Regulated Endothelial Glycocalyx Determines Metastatic Cancer Cell Activity. FASEB Journal: official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 34(5): 6166-6184. 10.1096/fj.201901920R
  • Cheng, Ming J., Mitra, Ronodeep, Okorafor, Chinedu C., Nersesyan, Alina A., Harding, Ian C., Bal, Nandita N., Kumar, Rajiv, Sridhar, Srinivaas, Ebong, Eno E. (2020). Targeted Intravenous Nanoparticle Delivery: Role of Flow and Endothelial Glycocalyx Integrity. Annals Biomedical Engineering. 48(7): 1941-1954. 10.1007/s10439-020-02474-4
  • Cai, Xuezhu, Qiao, Ju, Kulkarni, Praveen, Harding, Ian C., Ebong, Eno, Ferris, Craig F. (2020). Imaging the effect of the circadian light-dark cycle on the glymphatic system in awake rats. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 117 (1): 668-676. 10.1073/pnas.1914017117

Faculty

Feb 01, 2024

Faculty and Staff Awards 2024

The College of Engineering recognized faculty and staff at the annual faculty and staff awards event and thanked everyone for their hard work and dedication in support of our students, college, and university during the 2023-2024 academic year. View award recipients and photo gallery.

Undergraduate

Jan 11, 2024

Announcing Spring 2024 PEAK Experiences Student Awardees

A record number of engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Spring 2024 PEAK Experiences Awards.

Faculty

Sep 28, 2023

Spark Fund Award Research to Address Atherosclerosis

ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong is using a Spark Fund award from the Center for Research Innovation at Northeastern to develop a novel therapeutic that targets the glycocalyx to prevent atherosclerosis, a cardiovascular disease that can lead to secondary cardiovascular events such as strokes or heart attacks.

Faculty

Jul 20, 2023

Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awardees

MIE Associate Professor Randal Erb, ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong, ChE Professor Rebecca Carrier, and MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng are recipients of the Spring 2023 Spark Fund Awards from Northeastern’s Center for Research Innovation.

Faculty

Apr 27, 2023

Announcing Summer 2023 PEAK Experiences Awardees

Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Summer 2023 PEAK Experiences Awards. They will be pursuing a diverse set of projects, including a study of a pathogen that haunts hospitals, an examination of segregationist rhetoric in Boston newspapers, and an analysis of creativity in music.

Faculty

Dec 13, 2021

I&EC Research’s 2021 Class of Influential Researchers

ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong, ChE Assistant Professor Sidi Bencherif, and ChE Associate Professor Richard West were featured on the cover of I&EC Research as 3 of 36 scientists recognized as the 2021 Class of Influential Researchers.

Students

Jun 07, 2021

Summer 2021 PEAK Experiences Awardees

Congratulations to the COE student recipients of the Summer 2021 PEAK Experiences Awards. The PEAK Experiences Awards are a progressively structured sequence of opportunities designed to support learners as they continue climbing to new heights of achievement in undergraduate research and creative endeavor throughout their Northeastern journeys. BASE CAMP AWARDS Ana Salichs, E’22, “Colorimetric Assays […]

photo of solomon mensah and eno ebong

Alumni

May 04, 2021

It Started with a Mentor

After earning his bachelor’s degree at City College of New York, Solomon Mensah, PhD’19, bioengineering, chose to further his education at Northeastern for its entrepreneurial atmosphere, and to study under his undergraduate mentor who joined Northeastern, Associate Professor Eno Ebong, chemical engineering and bioengineering. Mensah’s graduate research, supervised by Ebong, examined inter-cellular interactions in cancer […]

In the Media

Feb 01, 2021

1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America

ChE Assistant Professor Andrew Jones, Professor Debra Auguste, Assistant Professor Eno Ebong, and Solomon Mensah (former PhD student of Eno Ebong) were featured in Cell Mentor’s article of “1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America.”

Faculty

Nov 12, 2020

ChE and BioE Professor Eno Ebong Presents Invited Talk at American Society for Investigative Pathology Symposium

ChE and BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong presented an invited talk entitled “Glycocalyx-Mediated Vascular Remodeling and Permeability in Disturbed Flow” at PISA (Pathobiology for Investigators, Students, & Academicians) 2020, an American Society for Investigative Pathology symposium.

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