Ryan Stowers

Biography

Stanford University: Postdoctoral Fellow 2015-2019
University of Texas at Austin: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering 2009-2014
Clemson University: B.S. Bioengineering 2005-2009

Research

Our research explores how cells interact with and are influenced by the mechanical properties of their environment. These properties regulate a variety of biological processes, such as stem cell differentiation and cancer progression. We engineer novel biomaterials for 3D cell culture to recapitulate key aspects of the cellular microenvironment and use these platforms to understand molecular mechanisms driving cell behavior. We are particularly interested in developing tunable or stimuli-responsive hydrogels to achieve spatial and temporal control of microenvironmental properties. Biological areas of interest include cancer initiation and progression, stem cell differentiation, epigenetics, and mechanotransduction.

Selected Publications

RS Stowers, A Shcherbina, J Israeli, J Chang, JJ Gruber, S Nam, A Rabiee, MN Teruel, MP Snyder, A Kundaje, O Chaudhuri. Matrix Stiffness Induces a Tumorigenic Phenotype in Mammary Epithelium Through Changes in Chromatin Accessibility. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2019.

H Lee*, RS Stowers*, O Chaudhuri. Volume Expansion and TRPV4 Activation Regulate Stem Cell Fate in Three-Dimensional Microenvironments. Nature Communications, 2019, 10: 529.

J Lou*, RS Stowers*, S Nam, Y Xia, O Chaudhuri. Stress Relaxing Hyaluronic Acid-Collagen Hydrogels Promote Cell Spreading, Fiber Remodeling, and Focal Adhesion Formation in 3D Cell Culture. Biomaterials, 2018, 154; 213-222.

RS Stowers, SC Allen, K Sanchez, CL Davis, C Van Den Berg, LJ Suggs. Extracellular Matrix Stiffening Induces a Malignant Phenotypic Transition in Breast Epithelial Cells. Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, 2017, 10; 114-123.

RS Stowers, SC Allen, LJ Suggs. Dynamic Photo-Tuning of 3D Hydrogel Stiffness. PNAS, 2015, 112 (7); 1953-1958.