BME Seminar: “Mechano-Metabolic Crosstalk in Cardiovascular Disease”

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Alisa Morss Clyne, Ph.D.
Keystone Professor, Fischell Department of Bioengineering
University of Maryland

Abstract: Cardiovascular disease progresses due to disordered mechanics and metabolism. In a healthy blood vessel, endothelial cells respond to mechanical signals from the flowing blood at their apical surface and the parenchymal tissue at their basolateral surface. At the same time, endothelial cells take up metabolites from the blood, use some of these metabolites for their own function, transport the remaining metabolites into the parenchymal tissue, and then secrete metabolic byproducts into the blood or tissue. However, in cardiovascular disease the mechanical signals may be altered by disturbed blood flow or by stiffened arteries, and the availability of specific metabolites (e.g., glucose, fatty acids) may be abnormally high. In this talk, I will describe how we use a combination of in vitro, ex vivo, and computational models to understand the connections between endothelial cell mechanics and metabolism.

Bio: Alisa Morss Clyne is currently a Keystone Professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the University of Maryland in January 2019, she was in the Mechanical Engineering department at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA for 12 years. Dr. Clyne directs the Vascular Kinetics Laboratory, which investigates integrated mechanical and biochemical interactions among cells and proteins of the cardiovascular system. She is particularly interested in how using advanced in vitro and computational models to understand how fluid shear stress and substrate mechanics affect nutrient metabolism and transport. Dr. Clyne received her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1996. She worked as an engineer in the GE Aircraft Engines Technical Leadership Program for four years, concurrently earning her master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. In 2006, she received her Doctorate in Medical and Mechanical Engineering from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Dr. Clyne is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). She received the NSF CAREER award in 2008, an AHA National Scientist Development Grant in 2010, the BMES-CMBE Rising Star award in 2011, the AWIS Elizabeth Bingham Mentoring award in 2017, and the ASME Van C. Mow Medal in 2026. Her research, teaching, and mentoring has been funded by NSF, NIH, and the AHA among others, and she has published more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals. Her teaching focuses on engineering applications in biological systems, and she founded several programs to enhance engineering opportunities for all.