Current Appointments & Affiliations
Hertha Sponer Distinguished Professor of Physics
·
2018 - Present
Physics,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Physics
·
2018 - Present
Physics,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Co-Director of the Duke Materials Initiative
·
2024 - Present
Physics,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
·
2019 - Present
Biomedical Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Professor of Biology
·
2019 - Present
Biology,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
·
2023 - Present
Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science,
Pratt School of Engineering
Recent Publications
Tension doesn’t always propagate in a biological cell membrane
Journal Article Journal Club for Condensed Matter Physics · March 31, 2025 Full text CiteNonlinear continuum description of the E. coli cell wall under high turgor pressure
Preprint · January 22, 2025 Full text CiteA minimal vertex model explains how the amnioserosa avoids fluidization during Drosophila dorsal closure.
Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · January 2025 Dorsal closure is a process that occurs during embryogenesis of Drosophila melanogaster. During dorsal closure, the amnioserosa (AS), a one-cell thick epithelial tissue that fills the dorsal opening, shrinks as the lateral epidermis sheets converge ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Mechanism of epidermal coordination during development and regeneration in zebrafish
ResearchCollaborating Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases · 2023 - 2028University Training Program in Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1994 - 2027Mechanosensitivity of Membrane-Actin Cortex Adhesion
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2023 - 2026View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
Technical University of Munich (Germany) ·
1988
D.R.