Research Expertise and Interest

molecular cell biomechanics, bacterial communities / microbiomes, deep learning for biology and medicine

Research Description

Prof. Mohammad Mofrad is a Professor of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering.  He leads a multidisciplinary research program that bridges molecular and cellular biomechanics with artificial intelligence and computational biology. His lab focuses on four major research areas:

1. Cellular Mechanobiology: Investigating how cells sense and respond to mechanical forces, with particular emphasis on focal adhesions, nuclear pore complexes, and chromatin organization. This work provides fundamental insights into cellular function and disease mechanisms.
2. Bioinformatics and Deep Learning: Developing advanced computational tools for analyzing biological data, with applications in protein function prediction, sequence analysis, and functional annotation. His lab pioneered several innovative approaches including ProtVec for deep proteomics.
3. Bacterial Mechanotransduction and Microbiomes: Studying how bacteria respond to mechanical forces and interact within microbial communities, with special focus on biofilm formation and the gut microbiome. This research has implications for antimicrobial resistance and precision medicine.
4. Digital Medicine: Creating AI-enhanced computational tools for medical applications, including automated disease diagnosis from medical imaging, drug discovery, and personalized medicine. His work integrates machine learning with traditional physics-based modeling to improve patient care.

Through this integrated approach, Prof. Mofrad's research aims to advance our understanding of biological systems across scales while developing practical applications in medicine and biotechnology.