Dr. Lykotrafitis joined our faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2009. Dr. Lykotrafitis received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Mathematics and Physical Sciences from National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He subsequently received his second M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Caltech studying dynamic frictional sliding modes along incoherent interfaces. From 2006 until 2008, he has been a postdoctoral fellow at MIT conducting experimental and computational studies of cellular membrane dynamics in Prof. Subra Suresh’s group. Dr. Lykotrafitis has received a five-year National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award and the American Heart Association (AHA) National Center Scientist Development Grant.
The goal of Dr. Lykotrafitis’ laboratory is to study, by combining experimental, clinical, and computational investigation, how changes in the biomechanical properties of cells and subcellular structures influence, and are influenced by, the onset and progression of SCD to support diagnosis, pharmacotherapy and prevention of life threatening complications. The overall objective is to quantitatively understand the biophysical mechanisms related to hydroxyurea and its effect on sickle erythrocytes in vitro. Dr. Lykotrafitis’ laboratory currently combines experimental techniques conducted via AFM with molecular dynamics simulations.
To learn more about cellular mechanics research, see below our current research:
- Characterization of the Adhesion Between Specific RBC Surface Receptors and Ligands in SCD
- Viscoelastic Properties of RBCs via Atomic Force Microscopy
- Modeling of social behavior – Building evacuation
- Large scale molecular dynamics simulations of cellular membranes and filaments
- Experimental and in silico study of the neuronal axon
- Mapping of SK2 channels on neurons
- Modeling of the RBC
- Modeling of Hb fibers in SCD
- Optical techniques in Biomedical Engineering
- Sickle cell disease