Seed I: Micromechanics of Cell Adhesion @ Brown University
The purpose of the Seed group is to pursue joint research in an emerging area of biological systems, cell adhesion, in which mechanics plays a key role. The Seed project integrates our established expertise in mechanics of materials with expertise in biology and biophysics. This interdisciplinary project includes faculty drawn from mechanics, materials, biology and physics. This topical area is a natural outgrowth of prior efforts within the MRSEC program, particularly in thin film studies. The fields of biophysics and biomedical sciences, on the other hand, have undergone a revolution in observational methodologies in the past decade or two. As a direct consequence, amazing quantitative data on cell adhesion at the molecular level is emerging. On the basis of shared interests crossing disciplinary boundaries, this faculty group has literally self-assembled with the aim of advancing this multi--disciplinary activity at Brown.
