Preeti Sahu
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) working with Hannezo group. I use three-dimensional computational tools to model the mechanics behind stem cell fate determination.
Previously I worked as a PhD student working with Lisa Manning, Cristina Marchetti and Jennifer Schwarz in Soft Matter Department of Syracuse University. I worked on problems related to segregation and fluidisation in confluent tissues. More specifically, we discovered that equilibrium mechanisms that can effectively segregate molecular mixtures, may fail to do so in space-filling confluent systems like that of biological tissues. Instead differential energy barriers lead to a small-scale but robust demixing spanning over a couple of cell diameters.
I completed my undergraduate studies at National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in Bhubaneswar, India. I worked with Anil Kumar on motility induced phase separation in soft particles.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Kinesin-5, a motor protein, is highly indispensable for cell division. It is therefore, an important candidate for anti-cancer drug. I performed MD Simulation to gauge the conformational changes in this motor protein in the absence of ligand.
Cells bidisperse in size and shape, do not segregate when mixed together in a confluent tissue. Understanding the mechanism behind such a robust mixing will help us understand why biological cells have to resort to creating an extra line tension along heterotypic contacts. This way they create compartmentalization between both kinds of cells. Such cells sorting is seen frequently in benign tumors and their subsequent destabilization leads to metastasis.