BME Seminar Series: Jonathan Song, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, OSU

Professor Song will present "Microscale Engineering of Vascular Morphogenesis."

All dates for this event occur in the past.

Bevis Hall, Room 245
1080 Carmack Road
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Presentation Title:

Microscale Engineering of Vascular Morphogenesis

Abstract:

Blood vessels expand their network through coordinated efforts of sprouting, branching, and coalescence into perfusable lumens. These morphogenic processes collectively describe angiogenesis whose research has historically focused on the biochemical signaling molecules that provide guidance cues for vascular expansion. In contrast, mechanical forces have only recently emerged as a critical dimension that influences the patterning of tissue and organs in our body. Moreover, constitutive mechanical stimulation due to fluid flow makes blood vessels one of the most prominently mechanically stressed tissues in the body. Here, I will present my work in using microscale engineering technology to reconstitute the microarchitecture of tissue and organs in vitro to investigate the role of fluid mechanical forces, such as intravascular shear stress and transvascular flow, in guiding new vessel formation. More specifically, I will discuss new insights on how blood vessels integrate signals from fluid forces to achieve varied goals such as remaining quiescent versus undergoing sprouting. This presentation will highlight the role of mechanical forces in regulating vascular morphogenesis which I propose can be exploited therapeutically to modulate pathological angiogenesis such as in cancer and during wound healing.

Bio:

Dr. Jonathan Song is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and principal investigator of the newly established Microsystems for Mechanobiology and Medicine Laboratory at The Ohio State University. He is also a member of the Solid Tumor Biology Program at OSU’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. He received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to arriving at OSU, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His research interests include using an integrated microsystems approach to study vascular biology and the tumor microenvironment.