Research in the Cohen lab focuses primarily on bioengineering with applications to biomaterials and tissue engineering. We take the elegant swarming and collective behaviors that allow tissues to heal injuries, grow, and form complex structures and connect them to engineering approaches that enable us to control those behaviors in new ways. One example of this is ‘outside-in’ control of tissues where we are building microfluidic and bioelectric devices to literally herd the migration of hundreds of thousands of cells in a manner analogous to sheep herding. This technology may enable us to better control tissue growth and to accelerate wound healing. On the flip side, we are building cell-mimetic materials and microstructures that can integrate directly into living tissues in order to control them from the 'inside-out’. Our work spans a variety of disciplines and we welcome people from all backgrounds to come join us!
