Recent Publications
Remodeling, growth and adaptation of living matter
We develop theoretical and computational models to fundamentally understand and predict how living matter remodels, grows, and adapts. Our work focuses on how mechanics and cell mechanosensing interact to create feedback loops that govern tissue development over time. By identifying the physical rules through which cells sense forces, reorganize their environment, and alter material properties, we aim to uncover the mechanisms that drive both healthy morphogenesis and pathological change.
We first explored these principles in simple organisms, such as phycomyces, where mechanical feedback plays a dominant role in organizing collective behavior. Building on these foundations, our current work targets the arterial wall, seeking to understand how mechanical cues and disrupted feedback pathways initiate and propagate vascular disease.
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Related publications
A statistical model of expansive growth in plant and fungal cells: the case of phycomyces
SL Sridhar, JKE Ortega, FJ Vernerey
Biophysical journal 115 (12), 2428-2442
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Related publications
A morpho-viscoelasticity theory for growth in proliferating aggregates
P Bandil, FJ Vernerey
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology 23 (6), 2155-2176
Catch bond kinetics are instrumental to cohesion of fire ant rafts under load
RJ Wagner, SC Lamont, ZT White, FJ Vernerey
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121 (17), e2314772121
Engineered Living Solids
We study engineered living solids (ELS), hybrid materials in which biological cells are embedded within hydrogels or biopolymer networks to form systems that can grow, adapt, and remodel over time. Our goal is to understand how mechanical interactions between cells and their material environment, combined with the biological feedback loops they trigger, give rise to emergent behaviors characteristic of living matter.
Our group develops theoretical and computational models that capture these coupled mechanical–biological processes, with an emphasis on how cells sense, deform, and reorganize their surrounding matrix. We apply these frameworks to guide the design of ELS for tissue engineering, organoid development, and biomaterials loaded with active bacterial populations.
Micromechanics of molecular networks
The mechanical behavior of polymers, biopolymers, and gels stems from their complex network architecture, yet we still cannot reliably predict their performance from molecular structure alone. Despite rapid experimental advances, creating materials with diverse cross-links, entanglements, and dynamic bonds, a predictive framework remains missing. Our research develops theoretical and computational models that bridge this gap, aiming to enable the rational design of high-performance adhesives, biomaterials, and materials capable of functioning in extreme environments.
We focus on the fundamental mechanisms that give these networks resilience: how they deform, redistribute stress, and resist damage under demanding conditions. By uncovering how processes such as void formation, bond dynamics, and plastic flow emerge and interact within complex architectures, we work toward predictive principles that can guide the design of robust, adaptable polymer networks for next-generation technologies.
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Related publications
Generalized continuum theory for nematic elastomers: Non-affine motion and characteristic behavior
SC Lamont, FJ Vernerey
Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 190, 105718
Nonaffine motion and network reorganization in entangled polymer networks
S Assadi, SC Lamont, N Hansoge, Z Liu, V Crespo-Cuevas, F Salmon, F.J Vernerey
Soft Matter 21 (11), 2096-2113
Cohesive instability in elastomers: insights from a crosslinked Van der Waals fluid model
SC Lamont, N Bouklas, FJ Vernerey
International Journal of Fracture 249 (1), 20