Professor Arpita Upadhyaya Awarded National Science Foundation Grant

Professor Arpita Upadhyaya (IPST/Physics) will determine the role of active cytoskeletal and force fluctuations in the context of the immune response for B cell receptor and T cell receptor mediated signaling.  Upadhyaya’s results will have broad implications in the field of force mediated molecular transduction processes in biology such as during cell adhesion, migration and development.  The PI will actively recruit a diverse group of undergraduate students and participate in programs for attracting high school students to biological physics research as part of the established Summer Girls program and a newly proposed Biophysics Day on campus. She also proposes to enhance outreach by working on the intersection of Science and Art with an exhibition of science-inspired photographs by scientists and paintings by artists to disseminate these ideas to the public.  National Science Foundation, $450,252, “Investigating how active fluctuations drive immune receptor dynamics and signaling”.