Fernanda Pérez-Verdugo is a NOMIS–ISTA Fellow at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), who is working with the research groups of Anđela Šarić (Computational Soft and Living Matter) and Edouard Hannezo (Physical Principles in Biological Systems).
Born and raised in Santiago, Chile, Pérez-Verdugo earned her PhD in physics from the University of Chile in 2021, where she investigated the physical principles underlying cellular systems. During her doctoral studies, she completed a research stay at Collège de France. In 2022, she joined the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University as a postdoctoral researcher, focusing on how mechanochemical crosstalk drives various tissue behaviors observed in living systems.
As a NOMIS–ISTA Fellow, Pérez-Verdugo is exploring the fundamental mechanisms behind multicellular force generation and shape control. Specifically, she is interested in understanding how cells adapt to mechanical cues through intracellular reorganization and how this adaptation influences multicellular shape. Her research will integrate multiple scales, from the dynamics of intracellular filaments to the behavior of groups of cells, combining computational techniques from the Šarić group with macroscopic theories from the Hannezo group. Her work aims to uncover the microscopic origins of cellular adaptation, a process crucial for early development and diseases. Furthermore, she seeks to learn how to control this adaptive ability. Such a comprehensive understanding has the potential to drive the development of innovative experimental protocols, as well as lead to novel therapeutic and diagnostic techniques. Additionally, her work on the emergence of adaptation in energy-consuming systems will contribute to the field of active matter in theoretical physics and inspire the design of smart adaptive materials.
Feature image: A minimal model to analyze the adaptation of a junction whose neighbor is being mechanically perturbed. As in many studies involving epithelial tissue dynamics, a two-dimensional perspective is assumed. The system is composed of three closed compartments, representing three cells, each undergoing cytoskeleton remodeling at its boundary. By modeling anchoring points along the boundary compartments, along with attractive (adhesion) interactions between cell boundaries, we can recreate a three-junction system.