Urbana Campus Research Calendar (OVCRI)

Abstract:  Cells are dynamic systems that sense, encode, and process complex biological, chemical, and mechanical signals to make context-dependent decisions. These processes, i.e., sensing, integration, and response, are shaped not only by intracellular signaling networks, but also by physical transport, spatial organization, and microenvironmental constraints that are difficult to isolate in vivo. Microphysiological systems (MPS) provide a powerful framework for studying cellular information flow under controlled, physiologically relevant conditions.

In this talk, I will present my group’s MPS platforms as in vitro models for studying cellular information flow across two distinct contexts: neuroinflammation at the brain-blood-interface (BBI) and directed cell migration in cancer. We first introduce a BBI MPS that recapitulates key structural and transport features of the neurovascular unit, enabling precise control of inflammatory inputs and quantitative measurement of barrier function and molecular transmission. This platform allows us to examine how neuroinflammatory perturbations alter signal propagation across the interface. 

I will then discuss the development of biophysical models of cell migration using microfluidic models of directed cancer cell migration, where migratory cells operate as distributed sensing systems that decode spatial and temporal gradients. Framed through a systems lens, we further modeled cancer cells as logic gates capable of signal detection, integration, and feedback under noisy and dynamically evolving conditions. The talk will be concluded to discuss how MPS can bridge molecular signaling, transport physics, and systems-level behavior.

Bio:  Bumsoo Han is Professor and Phil & Ann Sharp Scholar in Cancer Research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also Biohub Investigator at Biohub Chicago. Before joining the University of Illinois, he was Professor at Purdue University and Program Leader of the Drug Delivery and Molecular Sensing Program of the NCI-designated Purdue Institute for Cancer Research. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and his MS and BS from Seoul National University in Korea. His broad research interests are in transport processes in living matters. He received US DOD Postdoctoral Award for Breast Cancer Research, NSF CAREER Award, US AFOSR Faculty Fellowship (Predictive Toxicology), and Richard Skalak Best Paper Award from the ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.