The VCU College of Engineering, an innovation front-runner in academics and research, brings real-world education to Central Virginia. Our collaborative and multidisciplinary partnerships prepare undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students for leadership. Part of a premier research university, the VCU College of Engineering enhances regional and global prosperity through cutting-edge developments in tissue engineering, drug delivery, bioinformatics, cybersecurity, mechanical systems and particle science. We make it real by turning great ideas into breakthrough technologies. Our facilities are hubs of discovery, powered by an expanding student body and faculty committed to excellence.

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Mechanotransduction Dynamics at the Cell-Matrix Interface

Fibronectin fibrils regulate TGF-beta1-induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

Fibronectin fibrillogenesis facilitates mechanodependent cell spreading, force generation, and nuclear size in human embryonic fibroblasts

A Predictive Model of Cell Traction Forces Based on Cell Geometry

Probing the Folded State of Fibronectin Type III Domains In Stretched Fibrils By Measuring Buried Cysteine Accessibility

Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Rac1: A Role in Regulation of Cell Spreading

Understanding how substrate mechanics alters extracellular matrix assembly

Investigating how substrate stiffness, growth factor signaling, and extracellular matrix assembly work together to drive cancer progression

Computational Models of Traction Force-Derived Matrix Assembly

EGRB303 (Biotransport Processes)

EGRB513 (Cellular Signal Processing)

Christopher Lemmon, Ph.D. is the Inez Caudill, Jr. Distinguished Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering. He is also the Associate Department Chair  for Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. He began his academic life as a Mechanical Engineer, receiving his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. He then went on to work for Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems, followed by two years at the University of Wisconsin, where he received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. At this point, he took a major career turn, deciding to move into Biomedical Engineering. Following a one-year stint as Lab Technician in the Cardiovascular Dynamics Lab at Johns Hopkins, he began his PhD at Johns Hopkins, where he worked under the co-direction of Lewis Romer MD and Christopher Chen, MD/PhD. His work focused on measuring traction forces generated by single cells, and their ability to use these forces to assemble new tissue. He went on to do post-doctoral research at Duke University Medical Center, focusing on molecular biology tools for studying extracellular matrix proteins, under the direction of Harold Erickson, PhD. He joined VCU as an assistant professor in 2012 and was promoted to associate professor in 2017. His lab focuses on the roles of mechanics and cell signaling in the extracellular matrix, with a particular focus on breast cancer and fibrosis. His work is supported by both NIH and NSF.

Cell-generated traction forces

Extracellular matrix biology

Cellular mechanotransduction

Mechanobiology of fibrosis

Matrix mechanics and signaling in the tumor microenvironment;

Cellular traction forces

Cell mechanosensing

Lemmon Lab Homepage

Google Scholar Profile

Researchgate Profile

BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL: BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCHERS’ FINDINGS AND METHODOLOGY ARE GAME-CHANGERS

MECHANOCHEMICAL SIGNALING DYNAMICS IN EPITHELIAL-MESENCHYMAL TRANSITION

A COMPUTATIONAL MODEL OF TRACTION FORCE-INDUCED FIBRONECTIN FIBRIL GROWTH

THE ROLE OF EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX FIBRILS IN STIFFNESS CHANGES AND GROWTH FACTOR TETHERING DURING FIBROSIS

Inez A. Caudill Distinguished Professorship in Biomedical Engineering; Associate Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering | B.S., Lehigh University | M.S., University of Wisconsin | Ph.D.,  Johns Hopkins University

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