Micro-engineered Biomaterials to Explore Mechanical Feedback Loops in Breast Cancer Progression
Dr. Christopher Moraes
Associate Professor
McGill University
Date: Friday, May 5, 2023
1 – 2 p.m. EDT
Host: Dr. Scott Tsai
Location: In-person & Virtual
Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Auditorium
Lecture Takeaways
Biophysical factors in the local tissue microenvironment play a pivotal role in driving cell and tissue function but cannot be easily measured or manipulated within living three-dimensional tissues. We engineer realistic tissues “on a chip” using a variety of microfabrication, biomaterials and computational approaches to understand how tissues mechanically evolve at cellular length scales during development and disease.
During this lecture, I will describe how this general approach has allowed us to closely observe and test how mechanical features evolve during breast cancer progression toward metastasis and how these findings are directing us toward novel diagnostic, predictive and therapeutic identification strategies.
Biography
Dr. Chris Moraes is a Canada Research Chair in Advanced Cellular Microenvironments and Associate Professor in McGill’s Department of Chemical Engineering. He trained in nanoengineering (B.A.Sc) and mechanical and biomedical engineering (Ph.D.) at the University of Toronto before holding NSERC / Howard Alper Banting Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Michigan’s Biointerfaces Institute. His research and technical expertise lie at the interface between microfabricated cell culture systems, biomaterials design, advanced imaging technologies and computational modelling. Dr. Moraes is particularly curious about the role microenvironmental biomechanical forces play in driving disease and development. Recent honours include the 2020 McGill Principal’s Prize for Outstanding Emerging Researchers, the 2020 Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the Farnell Teaching Scholar Award in the engineering faculty.
No sign-up is required. For more information, contact the iBEST coordinator (ibest@torontomu.ca).
