About Us
Research in the Needleman laboratory combines physics and cell biology to study biological self-organizing. We seek to obtain a quantitative understanding of biological systems; how they result from mechanics and energetics, and the self-organization of their constituents; how they are perturbed in disease and change over evolution.
Self-organizing biological systems are examples of active matter, since they are driven out of equilibrium by energy transduction at the molecular level. Our long term goals are to uncover general principles which govern these non-equilibrium systems and to develop predictive theories of biological organization and behaviors. Our approach is to study complex biological systems using a close interplay between quantitative experiments and theory, developing new methods to produce the data we need.
In the Needleman lab, we value having an open environment for scientific learning and exploration. We welcome people of different backgrounds to join and contribute, and actively work to create an inclusive lab culture. We teach and help each other while navigating our independent research projects. Our lab is also committed to working with groups across the scientific community to share expertise and foster new research avenues.
Recent Publications
- Mechanical Mechanisms of Chromosome Segregation
- A Micromachined Picocalorimeter Sensor for Liquid Samples with Application to Chemical Reactions and Biochemistry
- A design framework for actively crosslinked filament networks
- A mechanical model of blastocyst hatching
- Stoichiometric interactions explain spindle dynamics and scaling across 100 million years of nematode evolution
- Non-invasive imaging of mouse embryo metabolism in response to induced hypoxia