KARINE GUEVORKIAN

I obtained my PhD in Physics from Brown University in RI, where I studied the effect of magnetically simulated microgravity on the swimming of microorganisms. I joined Laboratoire Physico-chimie Curie as a postdoctoral fellow to investigate the role of a biomimetic actin cortex on membrane mechanics in reconstituted systems (with C. Sykes and F. Brochard-Wyart). In parallel, I got interested in multicellular systems and redirected my research to understand the mechanics of cellular aggerates, their active responses to mechanical stimulation as well as their rheology (with F. Brochard-Wyart). Building on this experience, I moved to IGBMS (Illkirch) to learn about vertebrate embryonic development and study the interplay between mechanics and morphogenesis (with O. Pourquié). I spent a year as a visiting scientist at Harvard Medical School, before returning to PCC in 2017. Currently, I study the interplay between mechanics and biochemical signaling in tissue patterning and shape emergence, and their implication in in vivo segmentation of the body plan in vertebrate embryos and formation of somites. We combine approaches inspired by soft matter physics, with experimental biophysics and imaging techniques.