Research

Remodeling, growth and adaptation of living matter

We develop theoretical and computational models to fundamentally understand and predict how living matter remodels, grows, and adapts. Our work focuses on how mechanics and cell mechanosensing interact to create feedback loops that govern tissue development over time. By identifying the physical rules through which cells sense forces, reorganize their environment, and alter material properties, we aim to uncover the mechanisms that drive both healthy morphogenesis and pathological change.

We first explored these principles in simple organisms, such as phycomyces, where mechanical feedback plays a dominant role in organizing collective behavior. Building on these foundations, our current work targets the arterial wall, seeking to understand how mechanical cues and disrupted feedback pathways initiate and propagate vascular disease.

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Impact and innovationÌý

Our work aims to transform how we predict, control, and harness the behavior of soft and living matter. Through close partnerships with experimental researchers and industry, we translate fundamental theory into new strategies, technologies, and applications.


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Related publications

Helical growth during the phototropic response, avoidance response, and in stiff mutants of Phycomyces blakesleeanus
JKE Ortega, RP Mohan, CM Munoz, SL Sridhar, FJ Vernerey
Scientific Reports 11 (1), 3653
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A statistical model of expansive growth in plant and fungal cells: the case of phycomyces
SL Sridhar, JKE Ortega, FJ Vernerey
Biophysical journal 115 (12), 2428-2442

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Related publications

A morpho-viscoelasticity theory for growth in proliferating aggregates
P Bandil, FJ Vernerey
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology 23 (6), 2155-2176

Catch bond kinetics are instrumental to cohesion of fire ant rafts under load
RJ Wagner, SC Lamont, ZT White, FJ Vernerey
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 (17), e2314772121

Engineered Living Solids

We study engineered living solids (ELS), hybrid materials in which biological cells are embedded within hydrogels or biopolymer networks to form systems that can grow, adapt, and remodel over time. Our goal is to understand how mechanical interactions between cells and their material environment, combined with the biological feedback loops they trigger, give rise to emergent behaviors characteristic of living matter.

Our group develops theoretical and computational models that capture these coupled mechanical–biological processes, with an emphasis on how cells sense, deform, and reorganize their surrounding matrix. We apply these frameworks to guide the design of ELS for tissue engineering, organoid development, and biomaterials loaded with active bacterial populations.

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Related publications

Generalized continuum theory for nematic elastomers: Non-affine motion and characteristic behavior
SC Lamont, FJ Vernerey
Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 190, 105718

Nonaffine motion and network reorganization in entangled polymer networks
S Assadi, SC Lamont, N Hansoge, Z Liu, V Crespo-Cuevas, F Salmon, F.J Vernerey
Soft Matter 21 (11), 2096-2113

Cohesive instability in elastomers: insights from a crosslinked Van der Waals fluid model
SC Lamont, N Bouklas, FJ Vernerey
International Journal of Fracture 249 (1), 20