Dynamic materials to study how heart cells respond to changing mechanics
Official title: Probing spatiotemporal mechanobiology through novel dynamic material platforms
Funded at University of Delaware · NIH-11415171 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A patient-facing overview: researchers will create tunable, time-changing artificial environments to see how heart muscle cells react to different mechanical cues.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Delaware NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Newark, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 15, 2025 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $430,209 |
| NIH project number | 5R35GM160045-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11415171 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are individuals with heart conditions or researchers seeking to translate heart cell biology into therapies and better diagnostics.
✕Less likely to help
Healthy individuals without heart disease or researchers not focused on mechanobiology may see little direct benefit.
What this research studies
In this project, scientists at the Corbin lab are building new material platforms that can change stiffness and other properties in real time to mimic how heart cells feel in the body. They will observe how cardiac cells adapt, communicate, and function as their surroundings shift, aiming to map which mechanical signals lead to healthy or unhealthy changes. The work combines engineering, biology, and careful measurement to connect physical cues with how cells grow and behave over time. This could help identify strategies to protect heart cells from stress and improve tissue models used in research and therapy.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could benefit from better understanding of how mechanical factors influence heart cell health and from improved engineered models for testing treatments.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work with dynamic materials has shown that mechanical signals can direct cellular behavior, supporting the potential for meaningful advances.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Delaware
Newark, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Corbin, Elise Anne — University of Delaware
- Study coordinator: Corbin, Elise Anne
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.