![]() ![]() The $1-million, three-year grant was established to address complicated, pressing scientific problems that require the joint effort of two distinct disciplines to solve. “How does the mechanical environment that’s created by the cilia shape the behavior of bacteria along the ciliated surface?” “We want to understand the interaction between bacteria and ciliated cells,” Kanso said. ![]() Their results will have important implications in medicine as they provide a better understanding of the structure and function of cilia along the surfaces of tissues. It is the mechanics of this cilia-bacteria interaction that Kanso and her team are studying. Cilia are microscopic, hair-like structures, that clear harmful bacteria out of the body, while allowing beneficial ones to remain. Many of these microbes first interact with the human body along ciliated surfaces, such as in the upper airways. The average human body carries around three times more bacterial cells than human ones, according to the American Society for Microbiology. Photo courtesy of Rebecca HorneĮva Kanso, associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, was awarded a 2016 Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education (INSPIRE) grant to lead an interdisciplinary team in the study of the bacteria-host interaction. ![]()
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