BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:BIEN 286 Seminar Series: Dr. Cynthia Reinhart-King
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Pacific Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260914T141617Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_51197473281876
DTSTART:20251105T190000Z
DTEND:20251105T200000Z
DESCRIPTION:The presenter(s) will be Dr. Cynthia Reinhart-King\, a Professo
 r and Department Chair in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice Univers
 ity. \n\nMetabolism\, Microenvironment and Metastasis: A novel twist on ca
 ncer mechanobiology\n\nDuring solid tumor progression\, cells undergo mech
 anical and metabolic changes that help to fuel metastasis.   To move\, cel
 ls must utilize ATP to fuel the cellular contractility and forces that sus
 tain migration\, however very little is known about how the metabolic stat
 e of a cell affects its ability to migrate and vice versa. In this talk\, 
 I will describe my lab’s efforts to understand the forces driving cell m
 ovements in the tumor microenvironment and the energy required for movemen
 t.  Combining tissue engineering approaches\, mouse models\, and patient s
 amples\, we create and validate in vitro systems to understand how cells n
 avigate the tumor stroma environment to identify novel targets of cancer m
 etastasis. Microfabrication and native biomaterials are used to build mimi
 cs of the paths created and taken by cells during metastasis. Using these 
 platforms\, we have described a role for a balance between cellular energe
 tics\, cell and matrix stiffness\, and confinement in determining migratio
 n behavior. Moreover\, we have extended this work into investigating the i
 ntersection of diabetes and the diabetic tissue microenvironment with tumo
 r progression\, showing that mechanical changes in the tissue due to diabe
 tes can promote cancer.  Overall\, our work has demonstrated key mechanica
 l drivers of metastasis within the tissue microenvironment. \n\nBiography\
 n\nCynthia Reinhart-King is the John W. Cox Professor and Department Chair
  in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University.  Before joining R
 ice\, she was a University Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Engineeri
 ng and Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University\, where she
  also served as Senior Associate Dean for Research in the School of Engine
 ering.  She obtained undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering and Bio
 logy at MIT and her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in the Departmen
 t of Bioengineering. Her lab’s research interests are cell and tissue me
 chanobiology in cancer and atherosclerosis. She was awarded the Rita Schaf
 fer Young Investigator Award and the inaugural Mid-Career Award from the B
 iomedical Engineering Society\, an NSF CAREER Award\, the Sonny Yau ‘72 
 Excellence in Teaching Award\, a Cook Award for “contributions towards i
 mproving the climate for women at Cornell\,” the Zellman Warhaft Commitm
 ent to Diversity Award from the Cornell College of Engineering\, the Vande
 rbilt Chancellor’s Award for Research and the Edward J. White Service Aw
 ard from the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering. She is a fellow 
 of the Biomedical Engineering Society\, the American Institute for Medical
  and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)\, and the International Academy of Med
 ical and Biological Engineering\, and she was an inaugural New Voices Fell
 ow of the National Academies of Science\, Engineering and Medicine. She se
 rved as a standing member of the NIH CMT study section panel\, an elected 
 Board Member of AIMBE\, Secretary and Elected Board member of BMES\, and C
 hair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of AIMBE.  She is the curren
 t Past-President of the Biomedical Engineering Society.
LOCATION:Winston Chung Hall\, 205/206
SUMMARY:BIEN 286 Seminar Series: Dr. Cynthia Reinhart-King
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.ucr.edu/event/bien-286-seminar-series-dr-cynth
 ia-reinhart-king
CATEGORIES:Seminars
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR