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Dr. Kai completed his undergraduate training at Dalhousie University and went on to earn his PhD, where he characterized the function of the actin-binding protein synaptopodin-2 (Synpo2), revealing its novel roles in regulating focal adhesion dynamics and membrane protrusion formation in prostate cancer cell migration. He built expertise in actin dynamics to gain an understanding of how cells sense and respond to their microenvironment through focal adhesions. Following this, he pursued postdoctoral training with Dr. Valerie Weaver, a world-renowned expert in extracellular matrix (ECM) biology and mechanobiology at the University of California, San Francisco. There, he led efforts to determine how ECM mechanics and topography influence cellular actin tension and modulate cancer cell signaling behaviors. After his postdoctoral training, he returned to Canada and joined the Lung Health Research Group at the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases at the University of Calgary. Dr. Kai's research focuses on ECM dysregulation, a hallmark of fibrotic lung diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and asthma. He utilizes biophysical, bioengineering, and biochemical approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to pathological ECM, intending to reveal strategies to target mechanically regulated signaling pathways for therapeutic benefit in lung diseases.
Department of Computer Science Master's program. GRE scores are expected for international students.