Yasha Sharma

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

Cancer cell research is often approached cell by cell, cell type by cell type. We know some molecules are over-expressed in particular cancers, and we know some physical characteristics of other cancers. I am interested in treating cancer as a complex system. Particularly, I suspect that the properties of collective motion confer advantages to a cancer: spatially, temporally and physiologically. Does leadership arise and  lead to collective decision making? Does chemical feedback enable collective motion? Do cancer cells flock or swarm when they metastasize? I want to investigate and answer these questions, and see if cancer may exist as a critical state phenomenon.

Selected Publications:

Sharma Y, Pegoraro A, Vargas D, Lepzelter D, Weitz D, Zaman MH. Collective motion of cellular cohorts in a 3-dimensional matrix. (In preparation)

Yasha Sharma and Muhammad H. Zaman. Cell migration in Three Dimensional Matrices. In “Cell and Matrix Mechanics”. Zemmel and Kaunus Editors. Taylor and Francis. 2014.

Schwartz, M. P., Rogers, R. E., Singh, S. P., Lee, J. Y., Loveland, S. G., Koepsel, J. T., … Anseth, K. S. (2013). A quantitative comparison of human HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells and primary human dermal fibroblasts identifies a 3D migration mechanism with properties unique to the transformed phenotype. PloS One, 8(12), e81689. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081689

Fong, E. J., Sharma, Y., Fallica, B., Tierney, D. B., Fortune, S. M., & Zaman, M. H. (2013). Decoupling directed and passive motion in dynamic systems: particle tracking microrheology of sputum. annals of biomedical engineering, 41(4), 837–46. doi:10.1007/s10439-012-0721-2

De Oliveira, M., Vera, C., Valdez, P., Sharma, Y., Skelton, R., & Sung, L. A. (2010). Nanomechanics of multiple units in the erythrocyte membrane skeletal network. Annals of biomedical engineering, 38(9), 2956–67. doi:10.1007/s10439-010-0040-4
Sharma, M., Pathak, A., & Sharma, Y. (2009). Endoscopic ultrasound in CBD stone. Gastroenterology, 137(2), e7–8. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2009.01.059