Mechanics of Soft Active Materials

ABSTRACT: 
Living tissues are soft, complex, and composite structures layered with constituents that exhibit nonlinear and viscoelastic properties. Tissues also have a remarkable ability to alter their size, shape and property in response to mechanical stimuli such as during growth or due to disease. Changes in tissue structure and mechanics occur over hierarchical scales which range from the molecular, tocell, to tissue and finally to organ levels. What can the study of structure and biomechanics of tissues at these various levels tell us about its function or malfunction? During the course of my talk, I will discuss this topic using the example of the mechanics of a rubber protein, elastin, isolated from vertebrate arteries. I will also focus on recent investigations in my laboratory to understand collective cell behaviors. Through these studies, I hope to highlight the need for interdisciplinary research to address complex problems at the interface of biology and mechanics.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY:

Namrata Gundiah earned her M.Sc. (Physics, 1994) from Department of Physics, University of Pune, an M.S. (2000) and Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering, 2004) from the University of California, Berkeley. She did postdoctoral work at University of California, San Francisco at the Department of Surgery. Namrata joined the Indian Institute of Science in November, 2008. Her main research interests are in tissue mechanics and cell mechanobiology.