Cell Biomechanics: Unlocking Determinants of Human Health and Disease
 
Biomechanical properties of cells are important determinants of cell behavior and
organ function in normal and disease states. Understanding the link between cell
biomechanics and the delicate balance between human health and disease holds
great promise for predicting disease onset and progression and for developing
effective therapies. In the context of sickle cell disease, this presentation
addresses questions of how biological processes lead to structural changes in
the cell that are accompanied by changes in mechanical characteristics, how
those changes influence disease state, and how therapeutic strategies can be
developed and evaluated. Probing cell biomechanics for insights into the
pathophysiology of disease has important implications for the treatment of
individuals with sickle cell disease and individuals with other diseases that have a
biomechanical basis.

Biography:
Gilda A. Barabino is the Daniel and Frances Berg Professor and Dean of the
Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York (CCNY). She
holds appointments the in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and
Chemical Engineering and the CUNY School of Medicine. Prior to joining CCNY,
she served as Associate Chair for Graduate Studies and Professor in the
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and
Emory. At Georgia Tech she also served as the inaugural Vice Provost for
Academic Diversity. Prior to her appointments at Georgia Tech and Emory, she
rose to the rank of Full Professor of Chemical Engineering and served as Vice
Provost for Undergraduate Education at Northeastern University.  She is a noted
investigator in the areas of sickle cell disease, cellular and tissue engineering,
and race/ethnicity and gender in science and engineering. Dr. Barabino received
her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana and her Ph.D.
in Chemical Engineering from Rice University. She is the recipient of an honorary
doctorate from Xavier University of Louisiana and of the Presidential Award for
Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. She is a Fellow
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the American Institute for
Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Biomedical Engineering
Society (BMES). She is Past-President of BMES, Past-President of AIMBE and
the recipient of the Pierre Galetti Award, AIMBE’s highest honor. Dr. Barabino is
a member of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advisory Committee for
Engineering and has served on the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National
Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council. She became a member of
the congressionally mandated Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and
Engineering in May of 2018. Dr. Barabino consults nationally and internationally
on STEM education and research, diversity in higher education, policy, workforce

development and faculty development. She is the founder and Executive Director
of the National Institute for Faculty Equity.