My laboratory is interested in how microenvironmental cues, particularly mechanical forces and extracellular matrix, regulate tissue development, physiology and pathology.

Our work covers a wide range from fundamental studies of the molecular basis of cellular mechanotransduction to engineering of microdevices and nanotechnologies for basic research, as well as clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. A major effort is now focused on development of “Biomimetic Microsystems” that use methods of miniaturization originally developed to make microchips for the computer industry to build functional circuits with living cells as components. We currently are building tiny, complex, three-dimensional models of human organs that can be used to treat patients, as well as replace costly and time-consuming animal studies for drug development and toxicology applications.  Additional studies focus on mechanical mechanisms of control of organogenesis and tumor development, with the goal of developing biomimetic materials that can promote organ regeneration and reverse cancer when implanted or injected in vivo.

Selected Publications:

Huh D, Matthews BD, Mammoto A, Montoya-Zavala M, Hsin HY, and Ingber DE.  Reconstituting organ-level lung functions on a chip.  Science 2010 328: 1662-8.

Kim HJ, Huh D, Hamilton G, and Ingber DE.  Human Gut-on-a-Chip inhabited by microbial flora that experiences intestinal peristalsis-like motions and flow. Lab on a Chip 2012 12(12):2165-74.

Mammoto T, Mammoto A, Torisawa Y, Tat T, Gibbs A, Derda R, Mannix R, de Bruijn M, Yung C, Huh D and Ingber D. Mechanochemical  control of mesenchymal condensation  and embryonic tooth organ formation. Dev. Cell 2011; 21:758-769.

Korin N, Kanapathipillai M, Matthew BD, Crescente M, Brill A, Mammoto T,Ghosh K, Jurek S, Bencherif S, Bhatta D, Coskun A, Feldman C, Ingber DE. Shear-activated nanotherapeutics for drug targeting to obstructed blood vessels.  Science 2012. Aug. 10; 337(6095): 738-42.