Biophysics I

Presentations

• From Molecular Complexity to Unified Laws: Rethinking Membrane Elasticity

  ORAL · Invited

  Oct. 23, 2025, 10:30 AM – Oct. 23, 2025, 11:06 AM

  Publication: Cholesterol modulates membrane elasticity via unified biophysical laws. Nat Commun 16, 7024 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62106-0

  Presenters

  • Rana Ashkar

    • Principal Investigator
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
    • Virginia Tech

  Authors

  • Rana Ashkar

    • Principal Investigator
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
    • Virginia Tech

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• Sterol–Lipid Hybrids: Novel Molecular Tools to Tune Membrane Lateral Phase Separation

  ORAL

  Oct. 23, 2025, 11:06 AM – Oct. 23, 2025, 11:18 AM

  Presenters

  • Suryabrahmam Buti

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;

  Authors

  • Suryabrahmam Buti

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;

  • Nicholas Bennett Morris

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;

  • Teshani Kumarage

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

  • Dinidu K Hathnagoda

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

  • Rana Ashkar

    • Principal Investigator
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
    • Virginia Tech

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• Towards characterizing the biophysical landscape of immune cells with a novel modular toolbox.

  ORAL

  Oct. 23, 2025, 11:18 AM – Oct. 23, 2025, 11:30 AM

  Publication: Shurer, C.R., Baker, G., Laplace, C., Porter, A., Sputay, D., Cannon, H., Klymchenko, A., Levental, K.R., Levental, I. Measuring the biophysical paralipidome: a modular toolbox reveals protein-proximal nano-environments in live cell membranes [not submitted].

  Presenters

  • Grant Baker

    • University of Virginia

  Authors

  • Grant Baker

    • University of Virginia

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• Sterol-lipid conjugation uncovers why membrane rigidity varies across scales

  ORAL

  Oct. 23, 2025, 11:30 AM – Oct. 23, 2025, 11:42 AM

  Presenters

  • Dinidu K Hathnagoda

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

  Authors

  • Dinidu K Hathnagoda

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

  • Suryabrahmam Buti

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

  • Teshani Kumarage

    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

  • Rana Ashkar

    • Principal Investigator
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA;
    • Department of Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
    • Virginia Tech

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• Tissue Engineering Cardiovascular Grafts with Direct Current and Alternating Field Electrospinning.

  ORAL

  Oct. 23, 2025, 11:42 AM – Oct. 23, 2025, 11:54 AM

  Presenters

  • Harley Hicks

    • Troy University

  Authors

  • Harley Hicks

    • Troy University

  • Noah C Hallman

    • Troy University

  • Andrei Stanishevsky

    • University of Alabama at Birmingham
    • PI

  • Julia Król

    • Institute of Fundamental Technological Research Polish Academy of Sciences

  • Filippo Pierini

    • Institute of Fundamental Technological Research Polish Academy of Sciences

  • Amanda J Kennell

    • Troy University
    • University of Alabama at Birmingham

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• A Plateau Problem for Membranes

  ORAL

  Oct. 23, 2025, 11:54 AM – Oct. 23, 2025, 12:06 PM

  Presenters

  • Leroy Jia

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

  Authors

  • Leroy Jia

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

  • Xinyi Liu

    • Northwestern University

  • Neelesh A Patankar

    • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University

  View abstract →