Xiaohui Frank Zhang is integrating physics, immunology and
biology to develop a nanodevice that could provide a new
treatment for stroke, thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Zhang,
assistant professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics and
faculty member in the bioengineering program, leads an
interdisciplinary research team seeking to deliver medication to
targeted regions of the human body. Their device measures tens
of nanometers in size. The researchers study mechanosensinghow
cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli. Mechanosensing is
crucial in the development of tissues and the progression of
cardiovascular diseases. Of the three basic ways that cells
communicate with each otherchemical, electrical and
mechanicalthe last is by far the least understood, says Zhang.
One reason mechanosensing is not studied extensively is because
the mechanical forces imposed on cells occur on a molecular
level, he says. Its very hard to measure and exert force on
molecules. A nanodevice with a mechanical switch Zha