Alex Shalek, Director of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), examines how chronic environmental and metabolic stress alters cell behavior and drives tissue dysfunction. The talk highlights cutting-edge single-cell and spatial multi-omics research revealing how prolonged stress reshapes liver cell identity, promotes cancer-associated pathways, and predicts poorer health outcomes. It also introduces new computational and high-throughput screening platforms designed to identify regulators of cellular balance and accelerate discovery of strategies that strengthen tissue health and resilience.
Principal Investigator Devavrat Shah
Principal Investigator Joseph Jacobson
Principal Investigator Kristala Prather
Principal Investigator Herbert Einstein