UsernameServlet
Tri Pham
Position:
Assistant Professor
Office Phone:
E-mail:
tri.pham@nu.edu.kz
Website:
CV:

Research Interest

Characterizing the biophysical properties of normal and cancer cells

Biography
Selected Publications
Courses Offered

Tri studies mathematics, physics, and aerospace engineering through a Double Degree program in Advanced Science and Engineering at the University of Sydney, Australia. He then obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, majoring in computational biophysics at Monash University, Australia. 

After completing his Ph.D., Tri joined Professor Michael Shirts at the University of Virginia, USA, to train in computer-aided drug design by improving the efficiency and accuracy of free energy calculations for protein-ligand interactions. He has identified an optimal variance pathway that can reduce the total variance by 30% compare to the standard pathway. This finding facilitated computational drug design by providing a rapid and accurate method for free energy calculations.

In 2012, Tri received a prestige award (SystemsX.ch Transition Postdoc Fellowship) from the Swiss National Science Foundation to investigate the mechanics of asymmetric cell division (ACD) in Professor Clemens Cabernard’s laboratory at the Biozentrum, University of Basel. In Basel, he joined forces with Professor Daniel Müller’s laboratory at ETH Zürich to use atomic force microscopy (AFM) combining with live-cell imaging to measure hydrostatic pressure and cortical stiffness of a single cell at precise space and time during mitosis. He showed that ACD is a two-step process governed by asynchronous Myosin relocalization and internal pressure. He further showed that intracellular pressure plays an important role in enhancing the physical asymmetry in asymmetrically dividing cells. He also developed various methods and toolkits to facilitate the efficient analysis of a large amount of live and fixed cell imaging datasets. He joined the Department of Biology as an Assistant Professor in August 2019.

Education

2005 – 2009 Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Australia

2001 – 2004 B.E., Aeronautical (Space) Engineering, Honours I, University of Sydney, Australia

2001 – 2003 B.Sc. (Advanced) Mathematics and Physics, University of Sydney, Australia

Research Interests

We use advanced optical microscopy techniques in combination with atomic force microscopy to investigate several interesting research topics in life sciences listed below:

  • Characterizing the biophysical properties of normal and cancer cells
  • Exploring the effects of biophysical forces on cell division and their influences on the cell’s development and differentiation potentials
  • Correlating the molecular activity in a cell with its biophysical properties 
  • Testing the effects of altering biophysical properties of normal and cancer cells on their physical behaviors
  • Using biosensors such as FRET and BRET sensors in combination with biophysical measurements to understand the influences of molecular activities on the cell mechanical properties as well as their physical behaviors
  • Developing methods and toolkits to accurately and efficiently quantify optical and atomic force microscopy data