Mollica MECH (Mechanobiology, Engineering, and Cell mechanics toward Health equity)
Research at the intersection of mechanobiology, engineering mechanics, and health equity.
Our lab seeks to understand how biological cells generate and respond to mechanical forces.
We create and develop techniques to measure cellular force generation and understand its importance in health and disease.
We use microcontact printing to stamp a fluorescent pattern called ‘black dots’ onto a flexible substrate.
Cells seeded onto the black dots bind, spread, and contract, moving the pattern from its undeformed state. These images show platelets, which are blood cells involved in bleeding and thrombosis, on the black dots.
Learn more about our active projects here.
We are located the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)’s Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB).
Built in 2019, ILSB is a state-of-the-art, LEED-Certified (Gold) facility dedicated to collaborative research, teaching, and innovation.
