BME Seminar Series: Yubing Sun

Content

Engineered Microenvironment for Understanding Neurodevelopment and Cell Migration

Yubing Sun, PhD

UMass Amherst

Friday, October 2

LSL N610

11:00 AM-12:00 PM

Biological systems are complex, autonomous, and deeply coupled, making it challenging to tease out the key regulators of biological processes. Designing engineered systems that precisely control the mechanical and biochemical microenvironment of cells and tissues offers unique opportunities to study fundamental cell biology and create physiologically relevant models. In this talk, I will present our recent work in two key areas. In the first part, I will discuss how biophysical cues, such as geometrical confinement and strain gradient, regulate cell alignment, migration, and wound healing, which are crucial for tissue remodeling and homeostasis. A series of tools for applying forces to cells and force measurements will be introduced. In the second part, I will discuss in vitro modeling of neurodevelopment using human stem cells. We have designed novel engineered systems that regulate reaction-diffusion of endogenous and exogenous morphogens, enabling cell fate patterning and regionalization in both 2D neuroectoderm microtissues and 3D neural organoids. 

About Yubing Sun: Yubing Sun is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with an adjunct appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2015, and his B.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China. Dr. Sun has been recognized by NIH-NIGMS MIRA Award, NSF CAREER Award and Barbara H. and Joseph J. Goldstein Outstanding Junior Faculty Award at UMass. His current research interests include mechanobiology, cell migration, lab-on-chip, stem cell biology, organoid engineering, and biosensing.