CAREER award helps Yang advance work on cell-cell junctions and their link to human health

A $540,000 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program grant allows Ruiguo Yang, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering, to examine how cell-cell junctions — the protein structures that enable cells to attach to neighboring cells — respond to the wide range of strains they're subjected to every day, such as cardiac pulses, stretching of the skin and peristalsis in the gut.