People

Research Interests

Mechanical properties of living tissues; the ensemble behavior of complex biological systems; nonlinearities in biological systems

Current Research

Dr. Suki's current research involves characterization of the mechanical properties of soft biological tissues. Specifically, he is interested in developing techniques to measure the rheological properties of tissues. For example, he combines imaging with mechanical testing to identify the roles that fibers such as collagen and elastin networks play in the macroscopic mechanics of the tissue as well as developing microstructural and nonlinear models of tissue mechanics. His other field of interest is to apply statistical mechanical concepts to large biological networks. One example is the description of avalanches in airway reopening phenomena.

Selected Recent Publications

Frey, U., and Suki, B. "Complexity of Chronic Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Implications for Risk Assessment, and Disease Progression and Control" The Lancet.  372 (9643): 1088-1099 (2008)

Black L.D., Allen, P.G., Morris, S.M., Stone, P.J. and Suki, B. "Mechanical and Failure Properties of Extracellular Matrix Sheets as a Function of Structural Protein Composition" Biophys. J. 94: 1916–1929 (2008)

Suki, B., Majumdar, A., Nugent, M.A., Bates, J.H.T. "In Silico Modeling of Interstitial Lung Mechanics: Implications for Disease Development and Repair" Drug Discovery Today: Disease Models 4 (3): 139-145 (2007)

Ito, S., Bartolák-Suki, E., Shipley, J.M., Parameswaran, H., Majumdar, A., Suki, B. "Early Emphysema in the Tight skin and the Pallid Mice: Roles of Microfibril Associated Glycoprotein, Collagen and Mechanical Forces" Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 34(6): 688-694 (2006)

Frey, U., Brodbeck, T., Majumdar, A., Taylor, D.R., Town, G.I., Silverman, M. and Suki, B. "Risk of Severe Asthma Episodes Predicted from Fluctuation Analysis of Airway Function" Nature 438: 667-670 (2005)

Majumdar, A., Alencar, A.M., Buldyrev, S.V., Hantos, Z., Lutchen, K.R., Stanley, H.E., Suki, B.  "Relating Airway Diameter Distributions to Regular Branching Asymmetry in the Lung" Phys. Rev. Lett. 95: 168101 (2005)

Cavalcante, F.S.A., Ito, S., Brewer, K., Sakai, H., Alencar, A.M., Almeida, M.P., Andrade Jr., J.S., Majumdar, A., Ingenito, E.P. and Suki, B. "Mechanical Interactions Between Collagen and Proteoglycans: Implications for the Stability of Lung Tissue" J Appl. Physiol.  98: 672-679 (2005)

Suki, B., Lutchen, K.R., Ingenito, E.P. "On the Progressive Nature of Emphysema: Roles of Proteases, Inflammation, and Mechanical Forces". Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care. Med. 168: 516-521 (2003)