Biology Cell Biology Annual Meeting; 2014 Longrifles Cancer Seminar, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; and 2014 IUTAM Symposium on Mechanics of Soft Active Materials; 2013 The Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) annual conference in Coimbra, Portugal; distinguished lecturer at the Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center, University of Kentucky. In 2019, we was elected as a foreign member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine (ARMB). Research Bridging the fields of chemical engineering, oncology, pathology, biophysics, and materials science, Wirtz's research focuses on the biophysical properties of healthy and diseased cells, including interactions between adjacent cells and the role of cellular architecture on nuclear shape and gene expression. His research interests include cell biophysics, aging, tumor microenvironment, digital pathology, the actin cap, single molecule manipulation, intracellular particle trafficking, instrument development, tissue engineering, and nanotechnology in biology and medicine. He has made important contributions to molecular and biophysical mechanisms of cell motility and adhesion and nuclear dynamics in health and disease, and he pioneered the method of particle-tracking microrheology to probe the rheological properties of complex fluids and living cells and tissues. Wirtz currently holds several patents on his work. 2D vs. 3D cell migration Wirtz's lab identified fundamental differences between conventional 2D migration and more physiologically relevant 3D migration in cancer cells, creating new understanding of the tumor microenvironment and metastasis. In particular, they found that the nucleus, focal adhesion molecules, the lamina, LINC complexes, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) play a central role in 3D migration (migration in 3D collagen-rich matrices) that is not predicted or extrapolated from the better known 2D case (use of a Petri dish). Supporting Publications: 2009, B. Wildt, D. Wirtz, and P.C. Searson, Programmed sub-cellular release for studying the dynamics of cell detachment, in: Nature Methods. Vol. 6; 211–213. 2010, S.I. Fraley, Y. Feng, D.H. Kim, A. Celedon, G.D. Longmore, and D. Wirtz, The distinctive role of focal adhesion proteins in three-dimensional cell motility, in: Nature Cell Biology. Vol. 12; 598–604. 2011, D. Wirtz, K. Konstantopoulos, P.C. Searson, The physics of cancer: the role of physical interactions and mechanical forces in metastasis, in: Nature Reviews Cancer. Vol. 11; 512–522. 2012, S.I. Fraley, Y. Feng, A. Giri, G.D. Longmore, and D Wirtz, Dimensional and temporal controls of three-dimensional cell migration by Zyxin and binding partners, in: Nature Communications. Vol. 3; 719. 2013, K. Konstantopoulos, P.-H. Wu, and D. Wirtz, Dimensional control of cancer cell migration, in: