Mina J. Bissell is an Iranian-American biologist known for her research on breast cancer. In particular, she has studied the effects of a cell's microenvironment, including its extracellular matrix, on tissue function.
The Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, is a facility of the Max Planck Society for basic medical research. Since its foundation, six Nobel Prize laureates worked at the Institute: Otto Fritz Meyerhof (Physiology), Richard Kuhn (Chemistry), Walther Bothe (Physics), André Michel Lwoff, Rudolf Mößbauer (Physics), Bert Sakmann and Stefan W. Hell (Chemistry).
The tumor microenvironment is a complex ecosystem surrounding a tumor, composed of cancer cells, stromal tissue and the extracellular matrix. Mutual interaction between cancer cells and the different components of the tumor microenvironment support its growth and invasion in healthy tissues which correlates with tumor resistance to current treatments and poor prognosis. The tumor microenvironment is in constant change because of the tumor's ability to influence the microenvironment by releasing extracellular signals, promoting tumor angiogenesis and inducing peripheral immune tolerance, while the immune cells in the microenvironment can affect the growth and evolution of cancerous cells.
The Physical Sciences in Oncology Network (PS-ON) is a network of centers and projects set up by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) to link the physical sciences with the study of cancer. The program was launched in 2009 with Physical Sciences in Oncology Centers (PS-OCs) investigating complex and challenging questions in cancer research from a physical sciences perspective. To explore how the NCI could continue to support the integration of physical sciences and cancer research, a Think Tank and series of Strategic Workshops were held in 2012. These meetings served to update opportunities at the interface of physical sciences and cancer research and guided the development of the second phase including Physical Sciences in Oncology Projects (PS-OPs).
Melody A. Swartz is a professor and vice dean for faculty affairs at the University of Chicago who pioneered research in engineering complex tissues. Her most cited work "Capturing complex 3D tissue physiology in vitro" has been cited over 1784 times. Her research is focused on understanding the role of the lymphatic system regulating immunity in homeostasis and diseases, particularly cancer. She was previously director of the Institute of Bioengineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2023, the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium in 2023, and the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.
Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IEM) is focused on biomedical research, incl. cell biology, neuropathology, teratology, cancer research, molecular embryology, stem cells and nervous tissue regeneration as such leading institution in the research in the CR it was selected as an EU Center of Excellence (MEDIPRA). IEM is member of Network of European Neuroscience Institutes (ENI-NET).
Katherine Koontz Sanford, also known as Katherine Sanford Mifflin, was an American biologist and cancer researcher who worked at the National Cancer Institute for nearly 50 years, serving as head of Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology. In the 1940s she became the first person to successfully clone a mammalian cell in vitro, which allowed for more efficient means of creating pure strains of cells for study. She also developed the first laboratory test to distinguish people with Alzheimer's Disease and people predisposed to cancer.
The Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) is an institution engaged in basic and applied research in bioengineering and nanomedicine, with experts working on tissue regeneration, biomechanics, molecular dynamics, biomimetics, drug delivery, organs ‘on-a-chip’, cell migration, stem cells, artificial olfaction and microbial biotechnology. The institute was created by the Government of Catalonia, the University of Barcelona and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in December 2005 and is located at the Barcelona Science Park. The director of the institute is Prof. Josep Samitier, who took over from founding director Josep A. Planell i Estany in 2013. In 2014 IBEC was named a "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
Clare M. Waterman is a cell biologist who has worked on understanding the role of the cytoskeleton in cell migration. Waterman is a Distinguished Investigator, Chief of the Laboratory of Cell and Tissue Morphodynamics, and Director of the Cell and Developmental Biology Center at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda MD, USA. Waterman has received several awards and honors, including the Sackler International prize in Biophysics, the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and the Arthur S. Flemming Award for Public Service. In 2018, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She currently serves on the editorial boards of eLife, Current Biology and Journal of Microscopy.
Physical oncology (PO) is defined as the study of the role of mechanical signals in a cancerous tumor. The mechanical signals can be forces, pressures. If we generalize we will speak of "stress field" and "stress tensor".
Jennifer Hartt Elisseeff is an American biomedical engineer, ophthalmologist and academic. She is the Morton Goldberg Professor and Director of the Translational Tissue Engineering Center at Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Wilmer Eye Institute with appointments in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science and Orthopedic Surgery. Elisseeff's research is in the fields of regenerative medicine and immunoengineering.
Viola Vogel, also known as Viola Vogel-Scheidemann, is a German biophysicist and bioengineer. She is a professor at ETH Zürich, where she is head of the Department of Health Sciences and Technology and leads the Applied Mechanobiology Laboratory.
Celeste M. Nelson is a Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Director of the Program in Engineering Biology at Princeton University. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.
Irene Georgakoudi is a Greek biophysicist and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University, where her work focuses on developing non-invasive medical imaging techniques based on optical spectroscopy for applications in medical diagnostics and therapeutics.
Samira Musah is an American biomedical engineer and professor at the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering. She is known for her work in biomimetic systems, in particular for her work in developing an organ-on-a-chip model of the kidney glomerulus during her postdoctoral fellowship.
Yanlan Mao is a British biologist who is a professor at University College London. Her research considers cell biology and the molecular mechanism that underpin tissue formation. She was awarded the Royal Microscopical Society Medal for Life Sciences in 2021.
Edna "Eti" Cukierman is a Mexican biochemist who is a professor at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. She serves as co-director of the Marvin & Concetta Greenberg Pancreatic Cancer Institute. Her research investigates pancreatic cancer and the tumor microenvironment.
Cynthia "Cindy" Reinhart-King is an American biomedical engineer who is a University Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University. Her research considers cell motility and adhesion. She serves as president of the Biomedical Engineering Society.
Valerie M. Weaver is a professor and the director of the Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration in the department of surgery and co-director Bay Area Center for Physical Sciences and Oncology at the University of California San Francisco (USA). She has been working and leading oncology research for more than 20 years. Her scientific contributions have been recognised by different awards. She was the first woman to receive the Shu Chien Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society in 2022, which honours contributions in the cellular and molecular bioengineering field.
Kristyn Simcha Masters is an American bioengineer who is professor and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Colorado Denver. She works as Director of the Anschutz Medical Campus Center. Her research looks to create tissue-engineered models of disease, with a focus on cancer and cardiac disease.
