Max Bi – Northeastern University College of Science

I am interested in understanding collective and emergent behavior in out-of-equilibrium and disordered systems. My research employs methods in theoretical and computation condensed matter physics and applies to a wide range of biological and non-biological systems.

Working in close collaboration with experimentalists, the group focuses on the following problems in cell and tissue mechanics:

• Mechnosensing and Mechanotransduction during collective cell migration.
• Biomechanical models for morphogenesis and embryogenesis.
• Understanding the relationship between cell shapes and tissue-level mechanical response.
• Understanding the relationship between cell stiffness and tissue rigidity in primary tumors.
• Pattern formation and collective behavior in epithelial wound closure.
• How mechanical cues affect the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

In soft condensed matter physics, the group focuses on:

• Designing bio-inspired amorphous metamaterials with special photonic and sonic properties.
• Non-linear rheology of dense active suspensions.
• Origin of force chains in frictional granular matter.