Daniel Conway

Developing and applying biosensors to study the role of mechanical forces in epithelial homeostasis

Daniel Conway 
Ohio State University

Abstract: The focus of my research has been to develop tools for measuring mechanical forces and apply these tools to gain mechanistic insights into fundamental biological processes, such as cellular and tissue homeostasis. In this talk I will highlight recent work using nanobody-based force sensors to measure mechanical forces on nuclear lamins, and how these sensors can be used to study force transmission across other cytoskeletal structures. I will also present work examining how forces are applied onto the nuclear pore complex and how these forces could regulate nuclear-cytosolic transport. Lastly, I will discuss our work studying the role of mechanical forces in 3D epithelial structures, using MDCK cysts as a model system.

Bio: Daniel Conway received his BS in Bioengineering from Rice University and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the joint program at Georgia Tech and Emory University. During his post-doctoral studies, he worked with Martin Schwartz to study how mechanical forces across endothelial cell-cell adhesions change during mechanoadaptation to fluid shear stress. From 2013-2022 he was a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2022 he moved to Ohio State University to join the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the James Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is currently funded by a NIH NIMGS R35 award and an NSF BRITE PIVOT award.