Béla Suki, PhD

Professor, (BME, MSE)

Office ERB 321
Email bsuki@bu.edu
Phone (617) 353-5907
Fax (617) 353-6766
Website Cell and Tissue Mechanics Laboratory

In the News

Building Virtual Laboratories for the Lung
October 24, 2025
Suki has co-authored what promises to be a foundational text on modeling for pulmonary researchers. [ More ]

Publications

View a complete list of publications chronologically by year.
View a complete list of publications by citation.

Research Areas

Dr. Suki’s current research involves evaluating the effects of fluctuations in mechanical conditions on cell function, called Fluctuation-Driven Mechanotransduction. Specifically, mechanotransduction in the laboratory is always studied using sinusoidal stretching. However, in the body, cells are never exposed to strictly monotonous mechanical perturbations. Fluctuations appear to influence essential cell functions such as metabolism and protein production. This has practical and clinical implications: during mechanical ventilation, adding variability improves gas exchange, as well as general cell function. His other fields of interest include the effects of mechanical forces on the extracellular matrix in health and disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. His current work also includes computational modeling of large biological networks as well as medical device development.

Honors and Awards

• Charles DeLisi Award (2025)
• Joseph R. Rodarte Award for Scientific Distinction, American Thoracic Society (2024)
• Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (2016)
• Evans Center Research Collaborator Award, Boston University School of Medicine (2015)
• National Institute of Health Director’s High-Risk High-Reward Award (2011)
• Honorary professor of Medical Physics and Informatics, University of Szeged, Hungary (2009)
• Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2007)

Additional Affiliations

Division of Materials Science & Engineering

Departments or Divisions: Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering

Affiliations: Primary & Affiliated Faculty, Synthetic Biology, Tissue Engineering & Mechanobiology

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