Taher Saif

Edward William and Jane Marr Gutsell Professor, Mechanical Science & Engineering

Areas of Research

Brain Cancer, Cognitive Neuroscience, Colon/Colorectal Cancer, Exercise Physiology (Basic Science), Lung, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Prostate Cancer

Research Program and Theme

Program: Cancer Technology and Data Science
Theme: Molecular Measurement

Research Focus

Taher Saif has been working on cancer for over fifteen years, intending to explore the underlying mechanisms of cellular mechanotransduction in a physiologically relevant context, particularly in human diseases. Towards this goal, he has developed several modalities for measuring cell forces and new imaging methods that allow visualization of cells and their intracellular dynamics under mechanical stretch. His current research includes the mechanics of neurons and cardiac cells, in vitro metastasis of human colon cancer cells induced by mechanical microenvironmental factors, and the development of biological machines from cell clusters. The central theme of his research is to address the fundamental question of how cells transduce mechanical signals into their functional responses. Learn more about Taher Saif’s lab.