Soft and Living Matter in Complex Environments II

Presentations

• Active nematic pumps in microfluidic systems

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 8:00 AM – March 18, 2026, 8:12 AM

  Publication: This work has been accepted for publication in PNAS. A preprint was posted in arXiv:2407.09960

  Presenters

  • Jordi Ignés-Mullol

    • University of Barcelona

  Authors

  • Jordi Ignés-Mullol

    • University of Barcelona

  • Ignasi Vélez-Cerón

  • Rodrigo Coelho

  • Pau Guillamat

  • Margarida Telo da Gama

    • Universidade de Lisboa

  • Francesc Sagues

  View abstract →

• Cancer cell survival in orientational patterns predesigned by liquid crystal networks

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 8:12 AM – March 18, 2026, 8:24 AM

  Presenters

  • Oleg Lavrentovich

    • Kent State University

  Authors

  • Oleg Lavrentovich

    • Kent State University

  • Vanessa Jirón

  • Ali Alqarni

  • Manabu Kurokawa

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• Topology Control of Cancer Cell Monolayers Density by Liquid Crystal Networks

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 8:24 AM – March 18, 2026, 8:36 AM

  Presenters

  • Pedro Lowenstein

    • University of Michigan

  Authors

  • Pedro Lowenstein

    • University of Michigan

  • Anna Argento

    • University of Michigan

  • Daiana Perez-Visnuk

    • University of Michigan

  • Cuong Ha

  • Ali Alqarni

  • Oleg Lavrentovich

    • Kent State University

  View abstract →

• Multistable dynamics of an elastic filament with off-tangent self-propulsion

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 8:36 AM – March 18, 2026, 8:48 AM

  Publication: arXiv:2510.08323 [cond-mat.soft]

  Presenters

  • Daniel Beller

    • Johns Hopkins University

  Authors

  • Daniel Beller

    • Johns Hopkins University

  • Chanania Steinbock

    • Johns Hopkins University

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• Spatial Control of Active Flows through Patterns of Activity on Filaments

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 8:48 AM – March 18, 2026, 9:00 AM

  Presenters

  • Romer Rosales-Hasek

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  Authors

  • Romer Rosales-Hasek

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Layne Frechette

    • Brandeis University

  • Zvonimir Dogic

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Cristina Marchetti

    • UC Santa Barbara

  • Aparna Baskaran

    • Brandeis University

  • Michael Hagan

    • Brandeis University

  • Dimitrios Krommydas

    • University of California, Santa Barbara

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• Modeling density variations in microtubule-based active nematics

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 9:00 AM – March 18, 2026, 9:12 AM

  Presenters

  • Kevin Mitchell

    • University of California, Merced

  Authors

  • Kevin Mitchell

    • University of California, Merced

  • Sean Ricarte

    • UC Merced

  • Brandon Klein

    • Johns Hopkins University

  • Daniel Beller

    • Johns Hopkins University

  View abstract →

• Exploring a model of density variations in microtubule-based active nematics

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 9:12 AM – March 18, 2026, 9:24 AM

  Presenters

  • Sean Ricarte

    • UC Merced

  Authors

  • Sean Ricarte

    • UC Merced

  • Brandon Klein

    • Johns Hopkins University

  • Daniel Beller

    • Johns Hopkins University

  • Kevin Mitchell

    • University of California, Merced

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• Dynamics of a free finite-sized object in a confined active nematic suspension

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 9:24 AM – March 18, 2026, 9:36 AM

  Publication: Planned paper: Free object behavior in a wall-constrained nematic in dense active suspension

  Presenters

  • Min Zhu

    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  Authors

  • Min Zhu

    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  • Jonathan Freund

    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  View abstract →

• Collective Behavior of Motile Rods in Active Nematics

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 9:36 AM – March 18, 2026, 9:48 AM

  Presenters

  • Abhishek Sharma

    • Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi (IIT)

  Authors

  • Abhishek Sharma

    • Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi (IIT)

  • Harsh Soni

  View abstract →

• Taming polymorphism of tubule self-assembly using templated growth

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 9:48 AM – March 18, 2026, 10:00 AM

  Presenters

  • Sirui Liu

    • Brandeis University

  Authors

  • Sirui Liu

    • Brandeis University

  • William Rogers

    • Brandeis University

  • Thomas Videbæk

    • Brandeis University

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• Confinement-induced self-organization of self-propelled cell-like "flexicles"

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 10:00 AM – March 18, 2026, 10:12 AM

  Presenters

  • Philipp Schonhofer

    • University of Michigan

  Authors

  • Philipp Schonhofer

    • University of Michigan

  • Sharon Glotzer

    • University of Michigan

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• Bacterial chemotaxis to a finite localized source

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 10:12 AM – March 18, 2026, 10:24 AM

  Presenters

  • Meera Ramaswamy

    • University of Minnesota

  Authors

  • Meera Ramaswamy

    • University of Minnesota

  • Ipsita Tingi

    • Princeton University

  • Jenna Ott

    • Princeton University

  • Yaxin Duan

    • Princeton University

  • Sujit Datta

    • California Institute of Technology

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• Data-driven insights into reversible shear adhesion in space-like environments

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 10:24 AM – March 18, 2026, 10:36 AM

  Presenters

  • Gabriela Moreira Lana

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  Authors

  • Gabriela Moreira Lana

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • Nolan Miller

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • Jennifer Quigley

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • A B M Tahidul Haque

    • University of Alabama

  • Zhizhen Zhang

  • Markos Katsoulakis

  • Alfred Crosby

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• Precise placement of DNA origami on patterned surfaces

  Oral-In-person

  March 18, 2026, 10:36 AM – March 18, 2026, 10:48 AM

  Presenters

  • Yuanchuan Shao

    • Duke University Department of Biomedical Engineering

  Authors

  • Yuanchuan Shao

    • Duke University Department of Biomedical Engineering

  • Gaurav Arya

    • Duke University

  View abstract →