IBMC•INEB SEMINARS | DEC 7 | 17H00 | MAIN AUDITORIUM

Beth Pruitt
Stanford Microsystems Laboratory, Stanford University, USA; Associate Professor, Ph.D., P.E., Silas H. Palmer Faculty Scholar in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University; Affiliate of Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, BioX and BioPhysics programs; Visiting Professor in the Laboratory of Applied Mechanobiology, Department of Health Science Technology, ETH Zurich from Jan-Dec 2012;
Contacts: pruitt@stanford.edu | http://microsystems.stanford.edu

Microsystems for Mechanobiology
Abstract: The Stanford Microsystems Lab works on custom measurements and analysis systems for small scale metrologies including scanning probe microscopy, biomechanics and mechanotransduction assays. We study the mechanics and biology of the sense of touch in C. elegans, the mechanisms and forces of cell adhesion, and the development and response of stem cells and cardiac myocytes to mechanical loading. We design and fabricate most of our own tools and sensors and are interested in the reliable manufacture and operation of micromachined sensors and actuators in harsh environments, measuring nanoscale mechanical behavior, and the analysis, design, and control of integrated electro-mechanical systems. We leverage new tools and answer novel questions in our lab in the areas of physiology, biology, stem cells, neuroscience and cardiology with an eye toward quantitative and fundamental biophysics.

Biography: Dr. Beth Pruitt earned her BSME at MIT and MS in Manufacturing Systems and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford. She worked on Piezoresistive Cantilevers For Characterizing Thin-Film Gold Electrical Contacts for her PhD. During her post-doc, she worked on nanostencils and polymer MEMS. She joined the Stanford Mechanical Engineering faculty in Fall 2003 and started the Stanford Microsystems Lab. She received the NSF CAREER award, DARPA Young Faculty Award and the Anita Borg Institute Denice Denton Emerging Leader Award. Lab support includes NSF, NIH, CIRM Stanford Bio-X and industry funding. Prior to her Ph.D., she was an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving first at NAVSEA08, the engineering headquarters of the Navy nuclear program, then as a Systems Engineering instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, where she also taught offshore sailing.

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