Publications & Presentations
2026
Conference Presentations
10. Vahabikashi, A., Zhou, B., Labbe, D., Nair, A. Matrix Codes of Schlemm’s Canal Mechanosensing: Implications for Outflow Resistance; 2026 International Society for Eye Research, Valencia, Spain — Read Abstract Here
9. Zhou, B., Labbe, D., Nair, A., Vahabikashi, A. Collagen I and Fibronectin Enhance Mechanosensing in Schlemm’s Canal Cells on Stiffer Substrates; 2026 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Denver, CO — Read Abstract Here
8. Labbe, D., Keane, L., Zhou, B., Vahabikashi, A. Substrate Stiffness Distinctly Modulates the Mechanical Behavior of Normal and Glaucomatous Schlemm’s Canal Endothelial Cells; 2026 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Denver, CO — Read Abstract Here
7. Mossuto, S., Kang, Y., Amato, F., Berger, D., Lee, J., Osaki, T., Rogers, J., Vahabikashi, A. Engineering a 3D Electronically Integrated Human iPSC-Derived Neuromuscular System; 2026 Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Philadelphia, PA
6. Berger, D.,Smith, Z., Amato, F., Mossuto, S., Yamagishi, K., Vahabikashi, A. Liquid-Metal–Integrated Elastomeric Micropillar Platform for Force Sensing in Engineered Skeletal Muscle Tissue; 2026 Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Philadelphia, PA
2025
Conference Presentations
5. Avuthu, S., Aksenova, V., Jathana, A., Yelem, B., Dasso, M., Vahabikashi, A. Temporal Regulation of Epithelial Nuclear and Cellular Mechanics by Lamin A/C; 2025 American Society for Cell Biology, Philadelphia, PA — Read Abstract Here
4. Millan, S., Abe, Y., Karpova, C., Patel, M., Lam, J., Atluri, K., Dai, G., Yamagishi, K., Vahabikashi, A. Ultrathin Stretchable Cardiac Patches for Tissue Regeneration and Electrophysiological Monitoring; 2025 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting, Boston, MA — Read Abstract Here
3. Amato, F., Park, C.Y., Tran, J., Zheng, Y., Fredberg, J., Adam, S., Vahabikashi, A. A Human iPSC Derived Neuromuscular System with Integrated 3D Bioelectronics; 2025 Biomedical Engineering Society, San Diego, CA — Read Abstract Here
2. Labbe, D., Lakk, M., Krizaj, D., Vahabikashi, A. Substrate mechanics differentially affect the stiffness of primary healthy and glaucomatous human trabecular meshwork cells (Selected for travel award); 2025 International Society for Eye Research / BrightFocus Glaucoma Symposium, Atlanta, GA — Read Abstract Here
1. Avuthu, S., Aksenova, V., Dasso, M., Vahabikashi, A. Investigating the Role of Nuclear Lamins in the Mechanobiology of Epithelium (First place poster award in Masters category); 2025 Proceedings of the National Organization for the Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) Annual Meeting, Boston, MA — Featured by MIT Department of Chemistry
2022
Journal Papers
16. Vahabikashi, A., Sivagurunathan, S., Nicdao, F. A. S., Han, Y. L., Park, C. Y., Kittisopikul, M., Wong, X., Tran, J. R., Gundersen, G. G., Reddy, K. L., Luxton, G. W. G., Guo, M., Fredberg, J. J., Zheng, Y., Adam, S. A., and Goldman, R. D. (2022) Nuclear lamin isoforms differentially contribute to LINC complex-dependent nucleocytoskeletal coupling and whole-cell mechanics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 119, e2121816119 —Featured by Phys.org, The Medical News, and NU Feinberg — Read Here
15. Vahabikashi, A., Adam, S. A., Medalia, O., and Goldman, R. D. (2022) Nuclear lamins: Structure and function in mechanobiology. APL Bioengineering 6, 011503 —Read Here
14. Sivagurunathan, S., Vahabikashi, A., Yang, H., Zhang, J., Vazquez, K., Rajasundaram, D., Politanska, Y., Abdala-Valencia, H., Notbohm, J., Guo, M., Adam, S. A., and Goldman, R. D. (2022) Expression of vimentin alters cell mechanics, cell-cell adhesion, and gene expression profiles suggesting the induction of a hybrid EMT in human mammary epithelial cells. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 10 —Read Here
13. McDowell, C. M., K. Kizhatil, M. H. Elliott, D. R. Overby, J. van Batenburg-Sherwood, J. C. Millar, M. H. Kuehn, G. Zode, T. S. Acott, M. G. Anderson, S. K. Bhattacharya, J. A. Bertrand, T. Borras, D. E. Bovenkamp, L. Cheng, J. Danias, M. L. De Ieso, Y. Du, J. A. Faralli, R. Fuchshofer, P. S. Ganapathy, H. Gong, S. Herberg, H. Hernandez, P. Humphries, S. W. M. John, P. L. Kaufman, K. E. Keller, M. J. Kelley, R. A. Kelly, D. Krizaj, A. Kumar, B. C. Leonard, R. L. Lieberman, P. Liton, Y. Liu, K. C. Liu, N. N. Lopez, W. Mao, T. Mavlyutov, F. McDonnell, G. J. McLellan, P. Mzyk, A. Nartey, L. R. Pasquale, G. C. Patel, P. P. Pattabiraman, D. M. Peters, V. Raghunathan, P. V. Rao, N. Rayana, U. Raychaudhuri, E. Reina-Torres, R. Ren, D. Rhee, U. R. Chowdhury, J. R. Samples, E. G. Samples, N. Sharif, J. S. Schuman, V. C. Sheffield, C. H. Stevenson, A. Soundararajan, P. Subramanian, C. K. Sugali, Y. Sun, C. B. Toris, K. Y. Torrejon, Vahabikashi, A., J. A. Vranka, T. Wang, C. E. Willoughby, C. Xin, H. Yun, H. F. Zhang, M. P. Fautsch, E. R. Tamm, A. F. Clark, C. R. Ethier and W. D. Stamer. Consensus Recommendation for Mouse Models of Ocular Hypertension to Study Aqueous Humor Outflow and Its Mechanisms. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 63(2): 12-12, 2022. — Read Here
2021
Journal Papers
12. Vincent, M. P., Stack, T., Vahabikashi, A., Li, G., Perkumas, K. M., Ren, R., Gong, H., Stamer, W. D., Johnson, M., and Scott, E. A. (2021) Surface Engineering of FLT4-Targeted Nanocarriers Enhances Cell-Softening Glaucoma Therapy. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 13, 32823-32836 —Read full paper here
2020
Journal Papers
11. Stack, T., Vincent, M., Vahabikashi, A., Li, G., Perkumas, K. M., Stamer, W. D., Johnson, M., and Scott, E. (2020) Targeted Delivery of Cell Softening Micelles to Schlemm’s Canal Endothelial Cells for Treatment of Glaucoma. Small, e2004205 —Read full paper here
10. Patteson, A. E., Vahabikashi, A., Goldman, R. D., and Janmey, P. A. (2020) Mechanical and Non-Mechanical Functions of Filamentous and Non-Filamentous Vimentin. Bioessays, e2000078 —Read full paper here
9. Thiam H.R., Wong S.L., Qiu R., Kittisopikul M., Vahabikashi A., Goldman A.E., Goldman R.D., Wagner D.D., Waterman C.M. REPLY TO LIU: The disassembly of the actin cytoskeleton is an early event during NETosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 117: 7326-7337, 2020. Read Here
8. Thiam H.R., Wong S.L., Qiu R., Kittisopikul M., Vahabikashi A., Goldman A.E., Goldman R.D., Wagner D.D., Waterman C.M. NETosis proceeds by cytoskeleton and endomembrane disassembly and PAD4-mediated chromatin decondensation and nuclear envelope rupture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 117: 7326-7337, 2020. Read Here
2019
Journal Papers
7. Vahabikashi, A., Park, C. Y., Perkumas, K., Zhang, Z., Deurloo, E. K., Wu, H., Weitz, D. A., Stamer, W. D., Goldman, R. D., Fredberg, J. J., and Johnson, M. (2019) Probe Sensitivity to Cortical versus Intracellular Cytoskeletal Network Stiffness. Biophys J116, 518-529 —Read Here
6. Vahabikashi, A., Gelman, A., Dong, B., Gong, L., Cha, E. D. K., Schimmel, M., Tamm, E. R., Perkumas, K., Stamer, W. D., Sun, C., Zhang, H. F., Gong, H., and Johnson, M. (2019) Increased stiffness and flow resistance of the inner wall of Schlemm’s canal in glaucomatous human eyes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A —Featured by BlackPhysicists and NU Feinberg — Read Here
5. Patteson, A. E.*, Vahabikashi, A.*, Pogoda, K., Adam, S. A., Mandal, K., Kittisopikul, M., Sivagurunathan, S., Goldman, A., Goldman, R. D., and Janmey, P. A. (2019) Vimentin protects cells against nuclear rupture and DNA damage during migration. J Cell Biol218, 4079-4092 —Read Here
2018
Journal Papers
4. Stack, T., Vahabikashi, A., Johnson, M., Scott, E. Modulation of Schlemm’s canal endothelial cell stiffness via latrunculin loaded block copolymer micelles. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A., 2018:00A:000–000, 2018. Read Here
2014
Journal Papers
3. Overby, D. R., Zhou, E. H., Vargas-Pinto, R., Pedrigi, R. M., Fuchshofer, R., Braakman, S. T., Gupta, R., Perkumas, K. R., Sherwood, J. M., Vahabikashi, A., Dang, Q., Kim, J. H., Ethier, C. R., Stamer, W. D., Fredberg J. J., Johnson, M. Altered Mechanobiology of Schlemm’s Canal Endothelial Cells in Glaucoma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 111(38): 13876-13881, 2014. Read Here — Featured in Science Daily
2013
Journal Papers
2. Vargas-Pinto, R., Gong, H., Vahabikashi, A., Johnson, M. The Effect of the Endothelial Cell Cortex on Atomic Force Microscope Measurements. Biophysical Journal, 105(2): 300-309, 2013. Read Here
2011
Journal Papers
1. Shahnazari, M. R., Vahabikashi, A. Permeability Prediction of Porous Media with Variable Porosity by Investigation of Stokes Flow over Multi-particles. Journal of Porous Media, 14(3): 243-250, 2011. Read Here
Patents
1. Cherchi, M., Vahabikashi, A., Systems and Methods for Assessment of Cyclotorsion (PCT/US2017/047322).
2. Johnson, M., Vahabikashi, A., Stack, T., Vincent, M., Scott, E., Nanoparticles for Delivery of Therapeutics to the Eye for Treatment of Glaucoma (Provisional 63/203,128, File date: 7/9/2021)
3. Vahabikashi, A., Zhu, Y., Ramachandra, S., Johnson, M., Ameer, G., Laminin-Derived Peptide-Hydrogel Complex to Restore Lost Schlemm’s Canal Endothelial Markers (Disclosed, Northwestern INVO# 2019-225).