EVENT: Raine Lecture: Professor Andrew E Pelling

Living cells possess an exquisite ability to sense and respond to physical information in their microenvironment. This ability plays a key role in many fundamentally important physiological and pathological processes. I will describe our work utilizing a variety of biophysical tools to investigate the dynamic responses of cells to mechanical stimuli, and how physical cues can be employed to re-purpose and manipulate biological processes. Moreover, examining the responses of cells to highly artificial physical cues, that are unlikely to exist in vivo, can also reveal novel cellular behaviours. These responses to physical cues are not simply a side-product of biology but are key components of biological and physical feedback loops that govern the life of a cell.

Andrew E. Pelling is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Physics and Biology at the University of Ottawa. He was named a Canada Research Chair in 2008, received an NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement Award in 2009 and an Ontario Early Researcher in 2010. In 2013, Andrew was also elected a member of the Global Young Academy. Andrew completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto (1997-2001), his PhD under the supervision of James K. Gimzewski at the University of California, Los Angeles (2001-2005) and his post-doctoral research as a Senior Research Fellow at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London with Michael A. Horton (2005-2008).