Advances in biology and medicine require enabling instruments and techniques for manipulating and characterizing cells and sub-cellular structures. Cell surgery and automated biophysical characterization of cells enable new frontiers in science and have tangible clinical relevance. Precise extraction of chromatins and sub-cellular organelles is poised to revolutionize genomics and proteomics. Deposition of foreign materials into cells is enabling new drug efficacy tests for the pharmaceutical industry. In this talk, I will first provide an overview of our research program revolving around physical manipulation, stimulation, and characterization of cellular and sub-cellular structures. I will then introduce some of our activities in developing enabling micro-nano devices and robotic systems and their use in answering basic biology questions and tackling translational research problems. Specific examples in cellular mechanobiology, cell physics, cell surgery, drug screen, and disease diagnostics will be given.  

Yu Sun is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, with joint appointments in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. He was elected Fellow of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science), and CAE (Canadian Academy of Engineering) for his work on micro-nano devices and robotic systems.