Dr. Alexander Dunn

Biography

Alex Dunn is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. His research focuses on understanding how living cells sense mechanical stimuli, with particular interests in stem cell biology and tissue engineering. Dr. Dunn worked as a postdoctoral scholar with James Spudich in the Department of Biochemistry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Harry Gray, where his work concentrated on understanding the catalytic mechanism of selective C-H bond oxidation by cytochrome P450 enzymes. His contributions to the field have been recognized by several awards, including the Hertz Fellowship, Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in Scientific Interface, NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, and the HHMI Faculty Scholar Award. Dr. Dunn is actively investigating how molecular-scale asymmetries encoded by individual proteins give rise to emergent physical properties in cells and tissues, posing critical questions about how cells coordinate their actions to shape organs and structures. This research is expected to be highly relevant for developing stem-cell-based therapies and engineering complex, three-dimensional tissues.

Research Interests

Courses