Subra Suresh

Dean of the School of Engineering
Ford Professor of Engineering

Bachelor of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, 1977
MS, Iowa State University, 1979
ScD, MIT, 1981

Room 1-206 and 4-140, 77 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA  02139
617-253-3320 617-253-0868
ssuresh@mit.edu
The Suresh Research Group

Prof. Suresh's research is in the following areas: 

• Nanomechanics of biological cells and molecules, and human disease states
• Structure-Mechanical Property-Disease connections in the context of P. falciparum malaria, hereditary blood cell disorders and cancer
• Computational simulations of cellular and molecular deformation and shape thermodynamics
• High force optical tweezers studies of biological cells and human disease states
• Nanostructured materials
• Nanoindentation and microindentation

The Suresh research group at MIT includes faculty, technical staff, graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and visiting scientists who conduct research in experimental, analytical, and computational aspects of the properties of engineered and biological materials, particularly at the sub-microscopic and nanoscopic length scales. Their work also seeks to establish connections between subcellular reorganization induced by human disease states and overall mechanical response of living cells and molecules.

Selected Publications 

Suresh, S., "Biomechanics and Biophysics of Cancer Cells," Acta Biomaterialia, 3, 413–438, July 2007.

Tai, K., Dao, M., Suresh, S., Palazoglu, A. and Ortiz, C., "Nanoscale Heterogeneity Promotes Energy Dissipation in Bone", Nature Materials, 6, 454–462, June 2007.

Li, J., Lykotrafitis, G., Dao, M. and Suresh, S., "Cytoskeletal Dynamics of Human Erythrocyte", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104, 4937–4942, March 20, 2007.

Zhu, T., Li, J., Samanta, A., Kim, H.-G., and Suresh, S., "Interfacial Plasticity Governs Strain Rate Sensitivity and Ductility in Nanostructured Metals", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 104, 3031–3036, February 27, 2007.

Bao, G., and Suresh, S. "Cell and Molecular Mechanics of Biological Materials," Nature Materials, 2, 715–725, 2003.

Kim, J.-J., Choi, Y., Argon, A.S. and Suresh, S. "Nanocrystallization During Nanoindentation of a Bulk Amorphous Alloy at Room Temperature," Science 295, 25 January 2002.

See the MIT News Office for the announcement of Prof. Suresh's appointment as Dean of MIT's School of Engineering in July 2007. Prof. Suresh was interviewed by The Times of India.

Prof. Suresh and his group have identified the cell mechanics of a hallmark malaria protein. Their research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. For further details, see the MIT News Office. Using a molecular force probe, MIT researchers are the first to analyze bone's mechanical properties, and have discovered wide variations within a single region. The work was published by Nature Materials. See the MIT News Office for further details.

In July 2006, Technology Review profiled Prof. Suresh's work in an article entitled "Biology and the Engineer." Prof. Suresh's research on nanobiomechanics was selected by Technology Review as one of the top ten emerging technologies of 2006 which will "have a significant impact on business, medicine or culture." 

The Global Enterprise for Micro-Mechanics and Molecular Medicine, GEM4, was launched on Oct. 12, 2005, as reported in the Boston Globe and Tech Talk (Oct. 12 and Oct 13). Prof. Suresh is the director of this new initiative.

Prof. Suresh's research on characterization and deformation of blood cells has been used in cancer and malaria research as was reported in Acta Biomaterialia; see Tech Talk for further information. A Boston Globe article on nanotechnology mentioned Prof. Suresh (Jan. 20, 2004). Tech Talk also profiled his earlier work on defects.