Cynthia Hajal

TL;DR: A robust and physiologically relevant BBB microvascular model offers an innovative and valuable platform for drug discovery to predict neuro-therapeutic transport efficacy in pre-clinical applications as well as recapitulate patient-specific and pathological neurovascular functions in neurodegenerative disease.

TL;DR: A multiplexed microfluidic model of human microcirculation combined with LPS-stimulated neutrophils is used as a model of systemic infection to probe the dynamic interactions between intravascular tumor cells and neutrophIL at high spatiotemporal resolutions and uncovers chemokine-dependent neutrophil migration patterns which result in enhanced tumor cell extravasation rates.

TL;DR: A comprehensive understanding of cancer in the context of dynamical interactions of the immune system and the tumour stroma is required to truly understand the progression toward and past malignancy.

TL;DR: It is shown that in serum- and EGF-free conditions, EGFR or HER2 activity increase spreading and rigidity-sensing contractions on rigid, but not soft, substrates, and that EGFR and HER2 are activated through phosphorylation by Src family kinases (SFK).

TL;DR: A comprehensive understanding of bio-transport processes across the BBB in microfluidic devices is necessary to develop targeted and efficient therapies for a host of diseases ranging from neurological disorders to the spread of metastases in the brain.