biomechanics

Doctoral candidate position in biomechanics at EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland

It is known that platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) induced Rac activation depends on Src activity. However, we find that a local stress of physiologic magnitude via integrins can directly activate Rac GTPase rapidly, independent of the Src activity. Our finding on the stress-induced rapid Rac activation challenges the conventional wisdom on mechanotransduction and suggests that stress-induced signaling via focal adhesions does not follow signal transduction pathways induced by growth factors. To view the whole paper:

Michigan Technological University invites applicants for new tenure-track positions at any rank in the broad areas of health sciences and engineering. This campus-wide Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative (SFHI) is projected to bring up to ten new faculty members, including possible endowed positions, to campus over the next two years to strengthen the key focus areas of biochemistry, bioengineering, bioethics, biomaterials, biomechanics, human factors, medical informatics, cell biology, physiology, and statistical genetics.

0. I was idly thinking about the current H1N1 flue pandemic, and the following things occurred to me. Please note, I know very little about this subject matter. So, please consider descriptions in the following as, at best, tentative.



1. There is a basic difference between how alcohol kills viruses and how salt-water kills bacteria. [Alcohol is used in the hand-cleaners they use in hospitals. Girgling with salt-water is the first line of defense (and an unexpectedly highly effective one) which is well known for millenia.]

Colleagues

Can I draw your attention to a Chair position and Lectureship in Bioengineering at the School of Engineering, Durham University. While the curent Chair position is occupied by an experimentalist, the postitions are open to candidates with interests in computational modelling and I would encourage anyone in that area to take a look.

Further details are available at the Durham jobs website https://jobs.dur.ac.uk/default.asp. Closing dates are 10/07/09 for the Chair and 31/07/09 for the Lectureship.

The Second US-China NSF Workshop and Summer Institute of Bio- and Nano-Mechanics and Applications (UCWSI2009)