Metastasis—the spread of cancer from its primary site—is a highly dynamic and poorly understood process. During metastasis, cancer cells break away from the original tumor, navigate through the extracellular matrix (ECM), and enter the intricate vascular network. Carried by the circulatory flow, they must then exit the bloodstream (a process known as extravasation) to colonize distant organs. This progression is governed by a range of challenging biophysical phenomena.

 

ORION is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) funded collaborative research with my primary host institute (Pouyan Boukany, Chemical Engineering, TU Delft) and secondary support institute (Amin Doostmohammadi, Neils Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen) to study the migration of cancer cells in a model in-vitro system mimicking the ECM and vascular network. This research brings together interdisciplinary action including fluid mechanics, biomechanics of cellular interactions, various biochemical reactions and the state-of-the-art microfluidic technology. The outcome of this research will enhance our understanding of the complex metastasis process, and help improving future prevention measures.

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