2020 February 22-25 -- MTV attends and presents a plenary talk on "Reverse Engineering Nature: Applying Biological Strategies to Material Design" at the Adhesion Society Annual Meeting in Charleston, SC.   February 14-15 -- MTV attends and presents an invited talk on "Force sensing and regulation in tissues: from aggregates to organisms" in the Physical Cell Biology subgroup of the Biophysical Society's Annual Meeting in San Diego.   February 6-8 -- MTV attends and presents an invited talk at the NSF-Simons Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology (SCMB) Workshop at Tulane University in New Orleans on Particle Tracking Techniques and Live Cell Imaging.   January 23 -- Luke Gockowski advances to Ph.D. candidacy in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Congratulations, Luke!   January 21 -- Liam, Jack, Aimal, and MTV's paper on the "3D-printable cell crowding device enables imaging of live cells in compression" is accepted to Biotechniques. Congratulations, All!   2019 November 8 -- MTV presents a seminar titled "Adventures of a cell mechanic: Exploring how forces are sensed, generated, and processed in living materials" to the Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology at Brigham Young University in Provo UT.   October 13-15 -- Luke Gockowski presents his work on "Exploiting a photothermal system for soft robotics" at the Society of Engineering Science in St, Louis. Serena Seshadri, Miranda Sroda, Jaejun Lee, Matt Helgeson, Javier Read de Alaniz, Elliot Hawkes, and MTV are co-authors. Congraulations, Luke!   October 13-14 -- MTV attends a National Science Foundation's square table workshop on the interface between synthetic biology and biomaterials.   October 12 -- Our collaborative manuscript on "Investigating Cellular Response to Impact With a Microfluidic MEMS Device" by Luke Patterson, Jennifer Walker, Evelyn Rodriguez-Mesa, Kevin Shields, John Foster, MTV, Adele Doyle, and Kimberly Foster is accepted for publication at the Journal of Micrelectromechanical Systems. Congratulations, All!   September 24 -- MTV is elected as a 2019 Fellow of the American Physical Society, through the Division of Biological Physics (DBIO) for her "pioneering research in the development of microrheology and the applications of biomechanics at multiple length scales to diverse biological systems." Learn more about this distinctive honor here.   September 15 -- Younghoon Kwon completes his M.S. thesis on "Engineering Tools to Investigate Active Vascular Mechanics of Botryllus Schlosseri". He will continue on in the Valentine Lab as a Ph.D. student focused on the mechanics of biological and bio-inspired materials. Congratulations, Young!   September 9-12 -- MTV attends and presents a keynote lecture on marine-inspored materials at the International Conference on Adhesion in Aqueous Media: From Biology to Synthetic Materials in Dresden, Germany.   September 6 -- MTV with Elliot Hawkes, Javier Read de Alaniz, Mike Gordon and Igor Mezic are awarded a $2M grant from the National Science Foundation's Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Program, to study "Overcoming Challenges in Control of Continuum Soft Robots through Data-driven Dynamic Decomposition and Light-modulated Materials." Congratulations, all!   August 15 -- Vedika Shenoy presents the results of her summer research project on "Microfluidics Device Design to Characterize Complex Coacervate Phase Behavior" at the UCSB summer research symposium. Vedika is mentored by Chemical Engineering graduate student Chelsea Edwards and her project was jointly supervised by Matt Helgeson and MTV through IRG3. Thanks for the support, MRL FLAM summer program, and congratulations, Vedika!   June 8-14 -- Jaejun Lee won a best poster award for his presentation on "Photothermal Actuation using Donor-Acceptor Stenhouse Adduct (DASA) Polymers" at the Gordon Research Conference on Molecular Machines in Solution, Soft Matter and Solid State Materials. Miranda Sroda, Serena Seshadri, Luke Gockowski, MTV and Javier Read de Alaniz are co-authors. Congratulations, Jaejun!   May 21 -- Our collaborative manuscript on "Force distribution and multiscale mechanics in the mussel byssus" by Noy Cohen, Herb Waite, Bob McMeeking, and MTV is accepted for publication at the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Congratulations, All!   May 15-17 -- MTV attends and presents a seminar on mussel-inspired adhesives at Pressure Sensitive Tape Council's Annual Tech Seminar conference in Baltimore, MD   April 12 -- MTV presents a seminar on mussel-inspired materials at the Department of Polymer Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst   March 4-9 -- MTV attends and presents an invited talk at American Physical Society March Meeting on the lab's work on mussel-inspired materials. She also organized several sessions on Multiscale Cell Mechanics.   February 7-9 -- MTV attends and presents an invited talk at the NSF-Simons Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology (SCMB) Workshop at Tulane University in New Orleans on Particle Tracking Techniques and Live Cell Imaging.   January 27-February 1 -- Luke Gockowski attends the Gordon Research Conference on Complex Active and Adaptive Material Systems in Ventura CA and presents a poster titled: "Print It, Pull It, Twist It: Manufacture and Manipulation of Polymeric Materials via Visible Light". Neil Dolinski, Noy Cohen, Bob McMeeking, Craig Hawker and MTV are co-authors. Congratulations, Luke!   January 16 -- ME graduate student Philip Crandell starts a quarter-long lab rotation, where he will work on microbial consortia film mechanics. Welcome, Philip!   January 7 -- Undergraduate student Vedika Shenoy joins the lab to work on the development of microfluidic devices for studies of complex fluids. Welcome, Vedika!   2018 December 20 -- MTV and Michelle O'Malley are awarded a CNSI New Partnership Challenge Grant to support their project 'Deciphering the Material Design Rules of Biofilms'.   November 3 -- Justin Bernstein presents his summer research on 'The effect of sea water pH in the structural maturation of marine mussel plaques' at the UCSB College of Creative Studies (CCS) Research and Creative Activities Conference (RACA-CON). Congratulations, Justin!   October 17 -- MTV presents a seminar on 'Star power: Using sea squirts to investigate mechanosensing and vascular remodeling' to the Boise State University Biomolecular Sciences Graduate Program in Idaho.   October 1 -- BMSE graduate student Liam Dow joins the lab for a 1-quarter rotation to work on the design and optimization of a 3D-printable cell crowding device to enable imaging of live cell extrusion from epithelial monolayers. Welcome Liam!   September 28 -- MTV presents an overview of the lab's research at the Centro de Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, in Spain to help foster international exchange and recruitment to UCSB.   August 23 -- Dane Brouwer presents his summer research on 'Composite structures mimicking mussel byssal threads' at the Future Leaders in Advanced Materials (FLAM) program symposium at UCSB. Congratulations, Dane!   July 18 -- Marcela Areyano presents her work on mussel-inspired structures at the MRL Summer Student Research Symposium, representing IRG3: Resilient, Multiphase Soft Materials.   July 16 -- Jaejun Lee joins the Valentine Lab as a postdoctoral scholar to work in collaboration with Javier Read de Alaniz on development of bioinspired materials that convert light energy into productive mechanical work. Welcome, Jaejun!   July 1 -- MTV is promoted to the rank of Full Professor. A big thanks to everyone who contributed to the lab's success over the past 10 years!   June 30 -- After 10 years of exemplary service, Donna Mancusi steps down as Valentine Lab Manager. She will continue to support UCSB research enterprise working in her new role at the Materials Research Laboratory. Thanks for all your hard work, and good luck in your new position, Donna!   June 18 -- Undergraduate student Dane Brouwer joins the lab to work on mussel-inspired materials through the MRL's Future Leaders in Advanced Materials (FLAM) Program. Welcome, Dane!   June 17 -- Congratulations to Jack and Dhruvi on their graduation from UCSB! Congratulations especially to Dhruvi who received the honor of Distinction in Major, based in part on her research in the Valentine Lab!   June 3-7 -- Luke Patterson and Jenny Walker present a poster on "The microHammer: Investigating cellular response to impact with a high throughput microfluidic MEMS device" at the Hilton Head MEMS workshop. MTV, Kimberly Foster, Adele Doyle, and collaborators from Owl Biomedical (Goleta, CA) are co-authors. Congratulations Jenny and Luke!   June 1 -- MTV presents a seminar to the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego titled "Flex your mussels! Making Soft, Strong and Tough Materials Inspired by Nature".   April 17 -- MTV and Javier Read de Alaniz are awarded a grant through UCSB's Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies (ICB), an Army-sponsored University Affiliated Research Center, to study "DASA-based Photochromic Materials for Load-bearing Applications: Emulating Nature's Design to Build Light-addressable Actuators."   April 17 -- MTV presents a seminar to the Ohio State University's Biophysics Program on the Lab's work on mussel-inspired materials.   April 3 -- Jack Abram, ME BS/MS student, and Hugo Stock, visiting student from Imperial College London, join the lab for quarter-long MS projects. Jack will focus on the development of a microscope based gel stretcher to enable studies of mechanotransduction in vascular and epithelial cells. Hugo will focus on generating and characterizing multiphase mussel-inspired materials. Welcome!   March 5-9 -- The Valentine Lab attends the APS March Meeting in Los Angeles, CA. Aimal Khankhel presented a talk on "Quantifying the total mechanical tractions within aggregates of cells using microsphere traction force microscopy (MTFM)", Marcela Areyano presented a talk on "Investigating the role of geometry on the adhesive strength of mussel inspired structures", Emma Filippidi presented a talk on "Effect of Charge Density and Topology on Polyelectrolyte Complex Coacervation", and undergraduate Chandler Bartz presented a poster on "Effects of Physical Parameters on Structural Maturation of Marine Mussel Adhesive Plaques". MTV completed her 3-year term as member-at-large for the Division of Biological Physics (DBIO) and the group volunteered to promote DBIO and the NSF MRSEC activities at the conference. Well done all!   February 25 - March 1 -- The Valentine Lab attends the Adhesion Society Meeting in San Diego, CA. Marcela Areyano presented a poster on "Investigating the role of geometry on the adhesive strength of mussel inspired structures" with Luke Gockowski and MTV as coauthors and Emma presented a talk on the "Effect of seawater pH and composition on the structural maturation of marine mussel adhesive plaques" with Herb Waite, Danny DeMartini, Chandler Bartz and MTV as coauthors. Well done all!   January 16 -- BMSE graduate student Cesar Orellana joins the lab for a 1-quarter rotation to work on use of cellulose-based nanomaterials for hydrogel toughening. Welcome Cesar!   2017 December 11 -- Jamie Wilcox successfully defends her PhD thesis on "Optical trapping and single molecule measurement technologies for the investigation of biomolecular forces and motion" Congratulations, Jamie!   December 7 -- MTV presents the lab's work on "Soft, Strong, Resilient: How mussels use multiscale structures, fiber reinforcement, and dynamic bonding to adhere to rocks underwater" at the Department of Physics at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA.   November 17 -- MTV presents the lab's work on "Force-sensing in vascular remodeling: a new model system for mechanobiology" at Institut Jacques-Monod, Paris.   October 27 -- Emma and MTV's collaborative work on Toughening elastomers using mussel-inspired catechol-iron complexes is published in Science (link)! Co-authors include Tom Cristiani, Claus Eisenbach, Herb Waite, Jacob Israelachvili, and Kollbe Ahn. Congratulations, all!! The work was discussed in a Perspective by Karen Winey (link), and featured on the Science Magazine News (link) and the Chemical and Engineering News (link) websites too . You can read even more about the work here, here, here, and here.   October 17 -- MTV presents the lab's work on "Vascular retraction driven by matrix softening" at the Institut Curie in Paris.   October 1 -- Luke Gockowski and Younghoon Kwon join the Valentine Research Group as PhD and MS students in Mechanical Engineering, respectively. Welcome Luke and Younghoon!   September 25 -- Menaka, Emma, Herb Waite and MTV's paper on the "Influence of multi-cycle loading on the structure and mechanics of marine mussel plaques" is accepted to Soft Matter. Congratulations, All!   September 14 -- UCSB's Materials Research Laboratory receives its sixth round of NSF MRSEC funding. MTV serves as a co-leader of the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Resilient Multiphase Soft Materials. Read more about this excellent achievement here.   August 30 -- Our lab's work on the uHammer, a BioMEMS device we use to study the effects of force-based impacts on cells is highlighted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (read more here). This collaborative work with Prof. Kimberly Foster, and Dr. Adele Doyle aims to understand the origins and treatment of traumatic brain injury.   August 18 -- Marco Cerrato presents a poster on his summer research project "Development of Synthetic Mussel-inspired Adhesive Structures". Marco is supported by the McNair Scholars program at UCSB, which you can learn more about here.   July 23-28 -- MTV and Marcela Areyano attend the Gordon Research Conference on the Science of Adhesion in South Hadley, MA. Marcela presented a poster on "Bio-inspiration to Bio-prediction: Developing a deeper understanding of mussel/plaque structures" while MTV presented an invited talk titled "Tough, Strong, Resilient: Importance of Multiscale structures, Fiber reinforcement, and Dynamic Bonding in Biological Materials". Marcela also attended the Gordon Research Seminar on Adhesion Sciences.   July 21 -- Marcela Areyano is awarded a Louis Stokes California Alliance for Minority Participation Bridges to the Doctorate (BD) Fellowship to support her graduate studies at UCSB. Congratulations, Marcela!   June 23 -- MTV and Emma Filippidi's collaborative paper on "Significant performance enhancement of polymer resins by bioinspired dynamic bonding" with coauthors Sungbaek Seo, Dong Woog Lee, Jin Soo Ahn, Keila Cunha, Sung Won Ju, Eeseul Shin, Byeong-Su Kim, Zachary A. Levine, Roberto D. Lins, Jacob N. Israelachvili, J. Herbert Waite, Joan Emma Shea, and B. Kollbe Ahn is accepted at Advanced Materials. Congratulations, All! You can learn more about this project here.   June 16-23 -- MTV presents an invited talk on "Disruption of cellular force-sensing triggers systemic tissue collapse in the Botryllus vasculature" at the Biophysical Society's Thematic Meeting on Single Cell Biophysics in Taipei. While in Taiwan, MTV also presented the groups' recent work on the Mechanics of Mussel-derived and Mussel-inspired Materials at National Central University and Academia Sinica.   June 5 -- Bugra Kaytanli defends his PhD thesis on "Microsphere Traction Force Microscopy".Congratulations, Dr. Kaytanli! June 5 -- Menaka Wilhelm graduates with her MS in Mechanical Engineering after completing her MS thesis on the "Influence of Multi-cycle Loading on Structure and Mechanics of Marine Mussel Plaques." Congratulations, Menaka!   June 2 -- Delany Rodriguez, Tony DeTomaso and MTV's paper on "In vivo manipulation of the extracellular matrix induces vascular regression in a basal chordate" has been accepted for publication in the special issue on Mechanobiology in Molecular Biology of the Cell. You can learn more about this exciting project here.   April 27-30 -- MTV attends the 2017 Molecules Come to Life Symposium in Tucson as a Scialog Fellow. You can learn more about this program here.   April 1 -- Marcela Areyano enters the PhD program at UCSB Mechanical Engineering. Congratulations, Marcela!   March 17 -- Aimal Khankhel is awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to study the role of mechanical signals in tissue development and maintenance. Aimal's current projects include studies of vascular remodeling in a basal chordate called Botryllus schlosseri and measurements of cellular tractions in model tissues. Congratulations, Aimal!   March 13 -- Menaka Wilhelm is awarded a AAAS Mass Media Fellowship which will allow her to work for WIRED magazine as a science journalist this summer. Congratulations, Menaka! Learn more about the program here and about Menaka here.   March 13-17 -- Emma Filippidi, Menaka Wilhelm, and MTV attend the American Physical Society's March Meeting in New Orleans, LA. Emma presented an invited talk on her work in Toughening Elastomers with Mussel-inspired Bonds, Menaka presented her work on Cyclic Loading of Mussel Plaques, and MTV presented one talk on the Mechanics of Dynamic Microtubule Networks and an Invited Talk on Force Sensing and Vascular Retraction in Botryllus, a basal chordate.   February 26-March 1 -- MTV presents a Keynote Presentation at the Adhesion Society Meeting in St. Petersburg, FL on the Mechanical Origins of Robust Adhesion in Marine Mussels.   February 11-15 -- MTV attends the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA and presents on the "Physical Interactions between Disease-linked Tau Mutants and Microtubules" with Ben Lopez, Dezhi Yu and Jamie Wilcox as co-authors. MTV also organized a panel on the World Outside the Lab: Many Ways to Use Your PhD Skills through her work on the Early Careers Committee. January 1 -- MTV is awarded a Multicampus Research Programs and Initiative Award from the University of California Office of the President to lay the foundation for a Systemwide Center on Vascular Mechanics and Mechanobiology in partnership with Prof. Tony DeTomaso (UCSB), Prof. Luisa Iruela-Arispe (UCLA) and Elliot Botvinick (UCI). You can learn more about the award here.