Guy Genin

Focus

Mechanobiology, biomechanics, quantitative image analysis, interfaces and adhesion

Research

Guy Genin studies interfaces and adhesion in nature, physiology, and engineering. His current research focuses on interfaces between tissues at the attachment of tendon to bone, between cells in cardiac fibrosis, and between protein structures at the periphery of plant and animal cells.

Biography

Guy Genin studies the mechanobiology of interfaces and adhesion in nature, physiology, and engineering. His research aims to understand and harness the role of force in living systems. Through these efforts, Genin and his group are working to advance path-breaking solutions, including engineered scaffolds for tissue repair and regeneration, improved reconstructive surgery, therapy for tissue inflammation and fibrosis, and hardier crops that require fewer resources.

Genin is a faculty member in the departments of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and the Department of Neurosurgery in the School of Medicine. He is the McDonnell International Scholars Academy Ambassador to Xi'an Jiaotong University in China, where he serves as the Thousand Talents Plan Professor of Life Sciences. Genin co-directs the Center for Engineering MechanoBiology, a Science and Technology Center funded by the National Science Foundation and housed at Washington University and the University of Pennsylvania, with several other satellite locations. He is also chief engineer for the university's Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology and is Chief Technology Officer for the St. Louis mechanobiology start-up Caelivascular, LLC.

A fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Genin has served on the editorial boards of numerous journals. He co-chairs the working group on integrated multiscale biomechanics experiment and modeling for the Interagency Modeling and Analysis Group of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Genin is the recipient of numerous awards for engineering design, teaching, and research, including a Research Career Award from NIH; the Skalak Medal from ASME; the Changjiang Scholar Award from the Chinese Ministry of Education; the Northcutt-Coil Professor of the Year Award from the McKelvey School of Engineering; the Founder’s Day Distinguished Faculty Award from the Washington University Alumni Association; and Professor of the Year from the Washington University Student Union.

Genin joined the Washington University faculty in 1999. He earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University and a master’s degree and doctorate in applied mechanics and solid mechanics from Harvard University. He completed postdoctoral training at Cambridge and Brown universities.

Affiliations

• Center for Engineering Mechanobiology
• The Institute of Materials Science & Engineering
• Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology
• Synthetic biology Manufacturing of Advanced materials Research Center (SMARC)

Video Spotlight