Delphine M. D. Dean 305 Rhodes Annex Clemson, SC 29634 864-656-2611 finou AT clemson.edu

• Curriculum vitae [ html ] [ pdf ] [ word ]

Dr. Dean received her M.Eng and her S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) with a minor in Biomedical Engineering in 2001. She continued at MIT for her Ph.D., where she was co-advised by Drs. Alan J. Grodzinsky and Christine Ortiz. Her doctoral work focused on intermolecular interactions between cartilage matrix macromolecules and in Feb. 2005, she received her Ph.D. in EECS. She moved to Clemson to work as a postdoctoral fellow on cardiac and stem cell interactions with Dr. Bruce Z. Gao in the bioengineering department. In Jan. 2007, she started as an assistant professor of Bioengineering at Clemson University.

Dr. Dean's research focuses on the relationship between the nano, micro, and macro-scale interactions and mechanics of biological systems.

Cardiac and Stem Cell Mechanics

We are investigating the mechanical properties of cardiac cells and differentiating stem cells separately and in co-culture and on different matrices using a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and modeling techniques. The goal of this research is to determine at when differentiating stem cells match the mechanical properties of the native cardiac cells, what factors are most important for the changes in mechanical properties, and what signals affect the time course of differentiations.

Cell Mechanics Modeling

The Hertz model, commonly used in the litterature to describe cell indentation data, is a simple analytical elastic isotropic theoretical model that can be used to extract quantitative measures of cell stiffness from AFM nanoindentation. However, this model does not capture the complex and dynamic mechanical behavior of most cells that is important for cell function. By correlating the levels of the cytoskeletal proteins to the measured mechanical response of different cell types, we can determine which proteins are most important in cell stiffness. Therefore, concurrent with the cell indentation experiments described above, we are developing theoretical models of cardiac and stem cell mechanics. These models will allow us to build a micro to macro-scale model of cardiac tissue with varying amounts of each cell type.

Cell-Cell Interactions

Cell-cell interactions that form between cardiac cells over time are being directly characterized. The goal of this project is to understand how cellular adherence junctions form and how they change between the different cell types important for cardiac function and repair. Using AFM techniques, we can observe the formation of intercellular adherence junctions in real-time.

My husband, Brian, is a professor in the Computer Science Department here at Clemson.