Pouyan Keshavarz

Pouyan Keshavarz has received his BSc in Mechanical engineering and MASc in Aerospace engineering. He is a research assistant in the Systems Design Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo. His mission in the computational metastasis lab is to develop numerical models in order to quantify the deformability of circulating tumor cells (CTC). As a matter of fact, CTCs deformability plays an important role in the metastasis process because of entrapment of CTCs in capillaries and their penetration into the endothelial cell-cell junctions during intravasation and extravasation highly depend on their drastic deformation. However, our knowledge about the deformation behaviour of CTCs remains limited. By developing a numerical model which replicate the experiment of cancer cell passing through the microchannel, detailed insight into how CTC responds to physical forces can be acquired. As such, we will step forward to reach elaborate in silico models of CTCs behaviour in their microenvironment that can be used as predictive tools for cancer diagnosis purposes in near future.

Research in Computational Metastasis Lab:

Identifying the Mechanical Properties of Circulating Tumor Cells