Project 3
Adhesion of Tumor Cells in the Vascular Microenvironment
Participants
- Michael King
Project Leader — Biomedical Engineering, Cornell-Ithaca - David Nanus, MD
Project Co-Leader — Urology, Weil Cornell - Brian Kirby
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell-Ithaca - Joe Scandura, MD
Hematology and Oncology, Weill Cornell - Chris Schaffer
Biomedical Engineering, Cornell-Ithaca - Gail Seigel
Department of Ophthamology, SUNY Buffalo - Michael Shuler
Biomedical Engineering, Cornell-Ithaca - Tracy Stokol
Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell-Ithaca
This
project is focused on understanding
the fundamental physical mechanisms of circulating tumor cell (CTC) adhesion to
inflamed endothelium under flow, as a critical step in the hematologic spread
of metastatic cancers. This complex problem is inherently multidisciplinary,
and necessitates a team of investigators with expertise in fluid physics across
multiple length and time scales, as well as a quantitative understanding of
chemical reaction kinetics that are strongly coupled to externally applied
force. At Cornell University microscale fluid mechanics and advanced
optical microscopy have been applied to develop powerful enabling technologies
for the study of the molecular and cellular basis of metastatic cancer, while
at Weill Medical College
and SUNY Buffalo the biological components and their behavior can be studied in
detail in the context of animal studies or clinical phenotypes.
