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Dennis Discher, PhD

Robert D. Bent Professor, Director Phys Sci Onc Ctr/Proj
Biophysical Eng'g Labs, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Dennis Discher is the Robert D. Bent chaired Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the NCI (National Cancer Institute) Physical Sciences Oncology Center/Project at Penn. He is recipient of the Shu Chien Scientific Achievement Award from BMES' Cell & Molecular Bioengineering (CEMB) group, and is an elected member of both the US National Academy of Medicine and the US National Academy of Engineering. Discher holds appointments in the School of Engineering & Applied Science and Graduate Groups in Pharmacology and in Physics, and has been at Penn since 1996. His efforts to increase diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI) have included creation of Mid-career Awards with DEI criteria for CEMB and for the Biophysical Society’s Mechanobiology Subgroup, projects for summer research programs for two Philadelphia High School Teachers and for two or more Undergraduates from around the US (~30-50% African American), as well as PhD students and Fellows (15% Latino, 20% female) among >60 trainees. The lab's most cited work is among the top-5 cited research papers in Cell since its publication: 'Matrix elasticity directes stem cell lineage specification', and other papers range in topic from the mechanobiology of cancers, cardiomyocytes, and nuclei to controlling ‘Self’ recognition via engineered macrophages and particles in application to disease, particularly cancer. He has coauthored more than 250 publications with 80,000 citations, with papers appearing in Science, Cell, PNAS, and Nature family journals. Service includes various roles in CEMB, the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB), and the Biophysical Society, as well as NIH grant reviewer including chairperson (Gene & Drug Delivery, Phys Sci Oncology, etc.) and Editorial Board service for Science, Molecular Biology of the Cell, and PNAS & PNAS Nexus.

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