The First Annual Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers Network Investigators’ Meeting was held April 5-7, at the National Harbor in Washington, D.C. Johns Hopkins Engineering in Oncology Center director Denis Wirtz, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering,  presented a tutorial on particle tracking, presented a talk on mechanobiology, and chaired a panel discussion on cancer cell mechanics.

In addition, several researchers affiliated with the EOC were awarded Young Investigators Trans-Network Project Awards. Wirtz’s doctoral student Christopher Hale, working with Bryan Smith of Stanford University, was recognized for the poster presentation “Tracking the Mechanics of Cancer in Living Subjects Using Intracellular Nanorheology.” Wirtz’s postdoctoral fellow Daniele Gilkes, working with colleagues at Cornell University, earned accolades for the poster presentation “Synergistic Effects of Hypoxia and Substrate Stiffness on Cancer Cell Force Generation.”

A total of 13 research posters from Johns Hopkins PS-OC were presented at the three-day meeting.