I was invited to give a talk in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington, as part of their "Distinguished Young Scholars Seminar Series" during the summer of 2013.

My talk, titled "A New Paradigm for Cell Migration in Confined Microenvironments," summarized the experimental and theoretical evidence I have developed, along with my collaborators, to support a new model of tumor cell migration based on directed water permeation. I was thoroughly impressed with the day they had scheduled for me in the department and enjoyed meeting with everyone about research, career planning, etc. This was my first time in Seattle, but I'll be back in <1 month for BMES!

My (2) abstracts have been selected for oral presentations at the upcoming Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting! One talk will focus on how cell migration and polarization in confined microenvironments are driven by directed water permeation through the cell membrane. My second talk will focus on how loss of the protein obscurin causes cells to transition to a metastatic phenotype in the breast epithelium. 

Water permeation talk - Role of ion channels and aquaporins in cell migration in confined micro- environments (Thursday, Sept. 26, 8:00am, Room 611)
Track - Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering
Session - Cell Motility I

Obscurin talk - Loss of giant obscurins promotes a metastatic phenotype in breast epithelium (Thursday, Sept. 26, 1:45pm, Room 609)
Track - Cancer Technologies
Session - Bioengineering of Cancer II

I will also be participating in the "Meet the Faculty Candidate" poster session on September 25 at BMES, in order to advertise myself and my research to universities seeking new faculty hires.