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Farhan Chowdhury

Farhan Chowdhury, Professor and Interim Associate Dean

Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011

Dr. Farhan Chowdhury is a Professor in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering. He also holds a joint appointment in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering. His research is in the areas of Mechanotransduction and Mechanobiology.

Webpages: Lab website, Google Scholar

Research

The overall objective of our research program is to advance fundamental understanding of mechanotransduction processes in single living cells with single-molecule precision. Our transformative research, at the interface of engineering, biology, and single-molecule physics, primarily focuses to address the outstanding questions in stem cells and cancer mechanobiology. Specifically, we utilize tension gauge tethers (TGTs), FRET biosensors, smFISH, and high throughput next-generation sequencing techniques to thoroughly investigate outside-in and inside-out signaling in living cells. Our integrated approach enables us to measure dynamic changes occurring at the single molecule level under specific mechanical microenvironments. Furthermore, we are driven to translate this knowledge into clinics to improve the quality of life.

Click here to find more about our Mechanogenomics Lab

SIU Professor Farhan Chowdhury

Office: ENGR E 015
Phone: 618-453-7833
Fax: 618-453-7658
farhan.chowdhury@siu.edu

Education

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 2003
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Tuskegee University, 2006
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011
Postdoctoral Fellow, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Teaching

BME 539: Biomechanics I
ME/ BME 485: Cellular and Molecular Biomechanics
ME 472: Materials Selection for Design
ME 475: Machine Design I

Selected Publications

  1. S. Mohammad, K. Amar, F. Chowdhury, "Hybrid AI models allow label-free identification and classification of pancreatic tumor repopulating cell population," Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 677, 126-131, 2023.
  2. K. Amar, S. Saha, A. Debnath,C.H. Weng, A. Roy, K. Y. Han, and F. Chowdhury "Reduced Cell–ECM Interactions in the EpiSC Colony Center Cause Heterogeneous Differentiation," Cells, 12(2), 326, 2023.
  3. F. K. Protick, S. K. Amit, K. Amar, S. D. Nath, R. Akand, V. A. Davis, S. Nilufar, F. Chowdhury, "Additive Manufacturing of Viscoelastic Polyacrylamide Substrates for Mechanosensing Studies," ACS Omega, 7, 24384–24395, 2022.
  4. F. Chowdhury, B. Huang, N. Wang, "Forces in stem cells and cancer stem cells," Cells & Development, 203776, 2022.
  5. R. Ahmed, T. Zaman, F. Chowdhury, F. Mraiche, M. Tariq, I. S. Ahmad, A. Hasan, "Single-Cell RNA Sequencing with Spatial Transcriptomics of Cancer Tissues" International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23 (6), 3042, 2022.
  6. M Sharifi, Q Bai, MMN Babadaei, F. Chowdhury, M Hasan, ..., "3D bioprinting of engineered breast cancer constructs for personalized and targeted cancer therapy," Journal of Controlled Release, 333, 91-106, 2021.
  7. F. Chowdhury, B. Huang, N. Wang, “Cytoskeletal prestress: the cellular hallmark in mechanobiology and mechanomedicine,” Cytoskeleton, 78 (6), 249-276, 2021.
  8. B. Talluri, K. Amar, M. Saul, T. Shireen, V. Konjufca, J. Ma, T. Ha, F. Chowdhury, “COL2A1 is a novel biomarker of melanoma tumor repopulating cells,” Biomedicines, 8(9), 360, 2020.
  9. K. Amar, I.I. Suni, F. Chowdhury, “A quartz crystal microbalance based study reveals living cell loading rate via αvβ3 integrins,” Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 524 (4), 1051-1056, 2020.
  10. F. Chowdhury, S. Doğanay, B.J. Leslie, R. Singh, K. Amar, B. Talluri, S. Park, N. Wang, T. Ha, “Cdc42-dependent modulation of rigidity sensing and cell spreading in tumor repopulating cells,” Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 500 (3), 557-563, 2018.
  11. F. Chowdhury, I.T.S. Li, T.T.M. Ngo, B.J. Leslie, B.C. Kim, J.E. Sokoloski, E. Weiland, X. Wang, Y.R. Chemla, T.M. Lohman, and T. Ha, “Defining single molecular forces required for Notch activation using nano yoyo,” Nano Letters 16 (6), 3892–3897, 2016.
  12. F. Chowdhury, I.T.S. Li, B.J. Leslie, S. Doğanay, R. Singh, X. Wang, J. Seong et al., “Single molecular force across single integrins dictates cell spreading,” Integrative Biology 7 (10), 1265-1271, 2015.
  13. F. Chowdhury, Y. Li, Y.C. Poh, T. Yokohama-Tamaki, N. Wang, T.S. Tanaka, “Soft substrates promote homogeneous self-renewal of embryonic stem cells via downregulating cell-matrix tractions,” PLoS ONE 5 (12), e15655, 2010.
  14. F. Chowdhury, S. Na, D. Li, Y.C. Poh, T.S. Tanaka, F. Wang, N. Wang, “Material properties of the cell dictate stress-induced spreading and differentiation in embryonic stem cells,” Nature Materials 9 (1), 82-88, 2010.

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