News & Events

News & Events

News & Events

2025
Congratulations

Congratulations to Dr. Ting Ching Wang for a successful PhD defense!

Fellowship

Congratulations to Christina Dollahon for winning the Hagler HEEP fellowship!

Paper accepted in Science Advances

Brendan McKee’s paper was accepted for publication at Science Advances

Paper highlighted by National Cancer Institute

Ting Ching Wang and Christina Dollahon’s paper was highlighted by the National Cancer Institute. Read more.

2024
Paper

New paper published in npj Precision Oncology

Paper

Paper on the nuclear drop model chosen as cover in Soft Matter. Click here

Paper

New paper accepted for publication in Nature Communications on the nuclear drop model.

Paper

New paper published on tumor evolution in PNAS. Read more

Paper published on control of nuclear transport by mechanical force in the Journal of Cell Biology. Read more

Paper

Paper published on Cell Mechanotransduction in Biomaterials. Read more

2023
Paper

New paper published on the Nuclear Drop model. Read more.

Paper

New paper explains how nuclear shapes are established in cells. Read more.

Award

Christina was one of the oral presentation winners at the BMEGSA Research Symposium. Congratulations!

Award

Mohammad Mohajeri won the first prize for poster presentation at the CVRI conference. Congratulations!

New paper

Discovery on eversion of epithelial acini published in Biophysical Journal

2022
New paper

New paper on drop-like behavior of the cell nucleus published in Advanced Science

PhD defense

Aditya Katiyar is now Dr. Aditya Katiyar. Congratulations!

MBoC paper accepted

New paper on “An epigenetic small molecule screen to target abnormal nuclear morphology in human cells”, published in Molecular Biology of the Cell

2021
10 Dec 2021

American Institute of Physics showcases new paper on “Viscous shaping of the compliant cell nucleus” in a Scilight article

APL Bioengineering paper

New paper on Viscous shaping of the compliant nucleus published in APL Bioengineering.

8 April 2021

Purboja Purkayastha and Kavya Pendyala published a new paper in “Molecular Biology and Evolution” Read More

12 March 2021

Purboja Purkayastha won the best podium presentation in ChemE annual symposium.

2020
21 September 2020

New paper “A method for direct imaging of x-z cross-sections of fluorescent samples” accepted in Journal of Microscopy with minor revisions.

September 2020

Dr. Yuan Li has become Assistant Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University where he will pursue research in Biomechanics.

2019
1 November 2019

Aditya Katiyar received the best poster award in the 21st GRACE Symposium, University of Florida.

23 October 2019

New paper “Nuclear size changes caused by local motion of cell boundaries unfold the nuclear lamina and dilate chromatin and intranuclear bodies” accepted in Soft Matter.

22 October 2019

New paper “Emerging concepts and tools in cell mechanomemory” accepted in Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

11 September 2019

New paper “ A skeptic’s guide to bacterial mechanosensing ” accepted in Journal of Molecular Biology.

7 July 2019

New paper “ Mechanical stabilization of the glandular acinus by linker of nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton complex ” accepted in Current Biology.

26 June 2019

New paper “ A Mutation in Histone H2B Represents a New Class of Oncogenic Driver” accepted in Cancer Discovery.

12 June 2019

Aditya Katiyar received the travel award for the Summer Training Program at Center for the Physics of Living Cells (CPLC), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

21 May 2019

New paper “Mechanics of the nuclear membranes” accepted in the Journal of Cell Science.

8 May 2019

New paper “Repair of nuclear ruptures requires barrier-to-autointegration factor” accepted in the Journal of Cell Biology.

21 April 2019

“Apical cell protrusions cause vertical deformation of the soft cancer nucleus” published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.

31 January 2019

Andrew Tamashunas won the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division student oral presentation competition from the 2018 AIChE Annual Meeting . Congratulations!

2018
7 December 2018

New paper “Local, transient tensile stress on the nuclear membrane causes membrane rupture” accepted in Molecular Biology of the Cell.

September 2018

Andrew Tamashunas receives the GSC Travel Grant for travel to the BMES conference ($350), the Office of Research Travel Award for travel to AIChE ($400), and the Chemical Engineering Department’s Travel Award for travel to AIChE ($400). Congratulations!

21 August 2018

The review titled “Mechanical principles of nuclear shaping and positioning” by Dr. Tanmay Lele, Dr. Richard B. Dickinson and Dr. Gregg G Gundersen got accepted in Journal of Cell Biology.

30 March 2018

Vincent J. Tocco successfully defended his thesis: ” The Mechanism of Nuclear Shaping”. Congratulations, Dr. Tocco.

2017
December 2017

The University of Florida Office of Research awards Qiao Zhang and VJ Tocco $400 each for support in traveling to the AIChE and BMES annual meetings, respectively. Congratulations!

May 2017

The Journal of Cellular Physiology designates our recent paper, “The nucleus is irreversibly shaped by motion of cell boundaries in cancer and non-cancer cells,” the spotlight article (in press).

March 2017

Our recent PNAS publication “On the Ultra-Donut Topology of The Nuclear Envelope” was selected as a feature topic on Math in the Media (11/2016) by American Mathematical Society.

February 2017

Qiao Zhang presented his poster: “Coordinated dynamics of RNA splicing speckles in the nucleus” in Physical Science of Cancer Gordon Research Conference, Galveston, TX.

January 2017

Qiao Zhang won the Office of Research Award for his trip to attend the Physical Science of Cancer, Gordon Research Conference in Galveston, Texas. Congratulations.

2016
December 2016

new paper: “The mammalian LINC complex regulates genome transcriptional responses to substrate rigidity” is published online in Scientific Reports.

November 2016

Varun Aggarwal successfully defended his thesis :”Mathematical Modeling of Cytoplasmic Gradients: Sampling by the Moving Nucleus.” Congratulations, Dr. Aggarwal.

October 2016

Srujana Neelam’s article, “Vertical uniformity of cells and nuclei in epithelial monolayers”, Scientific Reports, 2016, has been recommended in F1000Prime as being of special significance in its field. Congratulations!

July 2016_2

Ian Kent successfully defended his thesis, “­­Interphase Microtubules: Mechanics and Nuclear Interactions”. Congratulations, Dr. Kent!

July 2016_1

new paper: “On the Ultra-Donut Topology of The Nuclear Envelope” accepted for publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

April 2016

Samer Alam successfully defended his thesis, “Nuclear Forces and Gene Expression: an Analysis in Fibroblasts”. Congratulations!

March 2016

new paper: “Transient Pinning and Pulling: A Mechanism for Bending Microtubules” was published online in PLOS ONE.

February 2016

Qiao Zhang’s article “Coordinated dynamics of RNA splicing speckles in the nucleus” has been selected to be featured on the cover of the Journal of Cellular Physiology. Congratulations!

January 2016

new paper: “Concentration sensing by the moving nucleus in cell fate determination: a computational analysis” accepted for publication in PLOS ONE.

2015
December 2015

new paper: “An unresolved LINC in the nuclear envelope” accepted for publication in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering.

November 2015

new paper: “Vertical uniformity of cells and nuclei in epithelial monolayers” accepted for publication in Scientific Reports.

October 2015

new paper: “Coordinated dynamics of RNA splicing speckles in the nucleus” accepted for publication in Journal of Cellular Physiology.

August 2015

simulation movie of cell spreading and nuclear flattening from Yuan Li’s article has been selected as a Featured Video in Biophysical Journal. Congratulation!

July 2015

new paper: “Moving cell boundary drives nuclear flattening during cell spreading” accepted for publication in Biophysical Journal.

May 2015

Srujana Neelam’s article, “Direct force probe reveals the mechanics of nuclear homeostasis in the mammalian cell”, PNAS, 2015, has been recommended in F1000Prime as being of special significance in its field. Congratulations!

April 2015

Samer Alam’s article “The nucleus is an intracellular propagator of tensile forces in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts” has been selected for inclusion in the ‘In This Issue’ section of JCS. Congratulations!

March 2015_2

new paper: “A direct force probe reveals the mechanics of nuclear homeostasis in the mammalian cell” accepted for publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

March 2015_1

new paper: “The nucleus is an intracellular propagator of tensile forces in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts” accepted for publication in the Journal of Cell Science.

2014
January 2014

T.J. Chancellor’s article “Actomyosin tension exerted on the nucleus through nesprin-1 connections influences endothelial cell adhesion, migration, and cyclic strain-induced reorientation”, Biophysical Journal, 2010, has been selected for F1000Prime as being of special significance in its field. Congratulations!

2013
November 2013_3

David Lovett successfully defended his thesis, “Nuclear Shape Control in Fibroblasts”. Congratulations!

November 2013_2

New Paper: “Actomyosin pulls to advance the nucleus in a migrating tissue cell” accepted for publication in Biophysical Journal.

November 2013_1

Nandini Shekhar, a recent MS graduate has accepted a professional position as a Scientific Associate II with Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. Congratulations!

August 2013_2

Jiyeon Lee, a recent PhD graduate has become a faculty member in Korea Institute of Science and Technology. Her research area is in Nano-biotechnology. Congratulations!

August 2013_1

New paper: “Dendritic cell activation is influenced by cyclic mechanical strain when cultured on adhesive substrates” accepted for publication in Biomaterials.

May 2013

New paper: “Fluctuating Motor Forces Bend Growing Microtubules” accepted for publication in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering.

March 2013

David Lovett received the Best Graduate Student Poster Award at the University of Florida Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting.

January 2013

New paper: “Modulation of nuclear shape by substrate rigidity” accepted for publication in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering.

2012
October 2012_3

Nandini Shekhar’s abstract “Effect of Microtubule Motors on Microtubule Mechanics in Living Cells” was rated as one of the top abstracts in the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Track submitted for presentation at the 2012 BMES meeting in Atlanta,GA.

October 2012_2

Dr. Jun Wu has accepted a postdoctoral research position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

October 2012_1

Nandini Sekhar has accepted a scientist position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

August 2012

New paper: “FRAP Analysis: Accounting for Bleaching during Image Capture” published in PLOS ONE.

May 2012

David Lovett awarded the Ruska Award at the Southeastern Microscopy Society conference (SEMS is an affiliate of the Microscopy Society of America).