# Disease Biophysics Group ![DBG_Banner](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2026-03/LongBanner1.jpg) **The Disease Biophysics Group (DBG) at Harvard University is an interdisciplinary team of biologists, physicists, engineers and material scientists actively researching the structure/function relationship in cardiac, neural, and vascular smooth muscle tissue engineering.** [ More About the DBG arrow\_circle\_right ](/about) [### The DBG Congratulates Dr. Yichong Wang! ](/news/2026/05/dbg-congratulates-dr-yichong-wang) May 04, 2026 The DBG would like to extend our congratulations to DBG member Yichong Wang for the completion of his PhD program! [### Joshua Gershlak Joins the DBG ](/news/2026/03/joshua-gershlak-joins-dbg) March 12, 2026 The DBG welcomes Joshua Gershlak as our newest post-doc. Dr. Gershlak holds a PhD from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in biomedical engineering with focus in tissue engineering. [### The DBG Congratulates Dr. Kevin Shani! ](/news/2025/11/dbg-congratulates-dr-kevin-shani) November 18, 2025 The DBG would like to extend our congratulations to DBG member Kevin Shani for the completion of their PhD program! [### From Jellyfish to Digital Hearts ](https://www.harvardmagazine.com/science/harvard-artificial-digital-hearts-kit-parker) November 13, 2025 Harvard Magazine [### AI And The Heart: Spinning Up Vasculature And Innovating Care ](https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwerner/2025/11/04/ai-and-the-heart-spinning-up-vasculature-and-innovating-care/) November 04, 2025 Forbes [### Tender Food rebrands as Lasso, expands novel spinning tech beyond alt-meat ](https://agfundernews.com/tender-food-rebrands-as-lasso-expands-novel-spinning-tech-beyond-alt-meat) October 14, 2025 AgFunder News ## Recent Publications Download 6 citations download- [BibTeX](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=6&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=bibtex) - [EndNote X3 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=6&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote8) - [EndNote 7 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=6&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=endnote7) - [Endnote tagged](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=6&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=tagged) - [Marc](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=6&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=marc) - [PubMedId](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=6&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=pubmed_id) - [RIS](/bibcite/export?pager_style=no_pager&number_of_items=6&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters=&&&format=ris) ### 2025 164 ., Wang Y, Liu J, Peters MM, Ishii R, Wang D, Chowdhury S, Parker KK, and Shakhnovich EI. 2025. “[Entropy-Driven Denaturation Enables Sustainable Protein Regeneration through Rapid Gel-Solid Transition](/publication/entropy-driven-denaturation-enables-sustainable-protein-regeneration-through-rapid-gel)”. Nature Communications, 16, 6907 164 ., Wang Y, Liu J, Peters MM, Ishii R, Wang D, Chowdhury S, Parker KK, and Shakhnovich EI. 2025. “[Entropy-Driven Denaturation Enables Sustainable Protein Regeneration through Rapid Gel-Solid Transition](/publication/entropy-driven-denaturation-enables-sustainable-protein-regeneration-through-rapid-gel)”. Nature Communications, 16, 6907 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61959-9) - [ picture\_as\_pdfEntropy-driven denaturati...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Entropy-driven%20denaturation%20enables%20sustainable%20protein%20regeneration%20through%20rapid%20gel-solid%20transition.pdf) The upcycling of protein materials has long been hindered by the difficulty in restructuring them to usable forms. In contrast to proteins extracted using conventional organic denaturants, keratin treated with concentrated inorganic lithium bromide (LiBr)... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61959-9) - [ picture\_as\_pdfEntropy-driven denaturati...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Entropy-driven%20denaturation%20enables%20sustainable%20protein%20regeneration%20through%20rapid%20gel-solid%20transition.pdf) 163 ., Yang H, Wang Y, Jang Y, Shani K, Jiao Q, Peters MM, Parker KK, and Vlassak JJ. 2025. “[Biomimetic Hierarchical Fibrous Hydrogels With High Alignment and Flaw Insensitivity](/publication/biomimetic-hierarchical-fibrous-hydrogels-high-alignment-and-flaw-insensitivity)”. Matter, 8, 6 163 ., Yang H, Wang Y, Jang Y, Shani K, Jiao Q, Peters MM, Parker KK, and Vlassak JJ. 2025. “[Biomimetic Hierarchical Fibrous Hydrogels With High Alignment and Flaw Insensitivity](/publication/biomimetic-hierarchical-fibrous-hydrogels-high-alignment-and-flaw-insensitivity)”. Matter, 8, 6 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102054) Natural structural materials often feature intricate hierarchical architectures across various scales, from nanometers to hundreds of microns, resulting in exceptional strength, toughness, and flaw insensitivity. However, achieving similar microstructures... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102054) 162 ., Lu F, Liou C, Ma Q, Wu Z, Xue B, Xia Y, Xia S, Trembley MA, Ponek A, Xie W, Shani K, Bortolin RH, Prondzynski M, Berkson P, Zhang X, Naya FJ, Bedi KC, Margulies KB, Zhang D, Parker KK, and Pu WT. 2025. “[Virally Delivered CMYA5 Enhances the Assembly of Cardiac Dyads](/publication/virally-delivered-cmya5-enhances-assembly-cardiac-dyads)”. Nature Biomedical Engineering , 8, 9, Pp. 109-26 162 ., Lu F, Liou C, Ma Q, Wu Z, Xue B, Xia Y, Xia S, Trembley MA, Ponek A, Xie W, Shani K, Bortolin RH, Prondzynski M, Berkson P, Zhang X, Naya FJ, Bedi KC, Margulies KB, Zhang D, Parker KK, and Pu WT. 2025. “[Virally Delivered CMYA5 Enhances the Assembly of Cardiac Dyads](/publication/virally-delivered-cmya5-enhances-assembly-cardiac-dyads)”. Nature Biomedical Engineering , 8, 9, Pp. 109-26 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-024-01253-z) - [ picture\_as\_pdfVirally delivered CMYA5 e...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Virally%20delivered%20CMYA5%20enhances%20the%20assembly%20of%20cardiac%20dyads.pdf) Cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-CMs) lack nanoscale structures essential for efficient excitation–contraction coupling. Such nanostructures, known as dyads, are frequently disrupted in heart failure. Here we show... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-024-01253-z) - [ picture\_as\_pdfVirally delivered CMYA5 e...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Virally%20delivered%20CMYA5%20enhances%20the%20assembly%20of%20cardiac%20dyads.pdf) 161 ., Yoshinaga D, Craven I, Feng R, Prondzynski M, Shani K, Tharani Y, Mayourian J, Joseph M, Walker D, Bortolin RH, Carreon CK, Boss B, Upton S, Parker KK, Pu WT, and Bezzerides VJ. 2025. “[Dysregulation of N-Terminal Acetylation Causes Cardiac Arrhythmia and Cardiomyopathy](/publication/dysregulation-n-terminal-acetylation-causes-cardiac-arrhythmia-and-cardiomyopathy)”. Nature Communications, 16, 3604 161 ., Yoshinaga D, Craven I, Feng R, Prondzynski M, Shani K, Tharani Y, Mayourian J, Joseph M, Walker D, Bortolin RH, Carreon CK, Boss B, Upton S, Parker KK, Pu WT, and Bezzerides VJ. 2025. “[Dysregulation of N-Terminal Acetylation Causes Cardiac Arrhythmia and Cardiomyopathy](/publication/dysregulation-n-terminal-acetylation-causes-cardiac-arrhythmia-and-cardiomyopathy)”. Nature Communications, 16, 3604 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58539-2) - [ picture\_as\_pdfDysregulation of N-termin...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Dysregulation%20of%20N-terminal%20acetylation%20causes%20cardiac%20arrhythmia%20and%20cardiomyopathy.pdf) N-terminal acetyltransferases including NAA10 catalyze N-terminal acetylation, an evolutionarily conserved co- and post-translational modification. However, little is known about the role of N-terminal acetylation in cardiac homeostasis. To gain insight... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58539-2) - [ picture\_as\_pdfDysregulation of N-termin...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Dysregulation%20of%20N-terminal%20acetylation%20causes%20cardiac%20arrhythmia%20and%20cardiomyopathy.pdf) 160 ., Florindi C, Jang Y, Shani K, Moretti P, Bertarelli C, Lanzani G, Parker KK, Lodola F, and . 2025. “[A Cardiac Microphysiological System for Studying Ca2+ Propagation via Non-Genetic Optical Stimulation](/publication/cardiac-microphysiological-system-studying-ca2-propagation-non-genetic-optical)”. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 217 160 ., Florindi C, Jang Y, Shani K, Moretti P, Bertarelli C, Lanzani G, Parker KK, Lodola F, and . 2025. “[A Cardiac Microphysiological System for Studying Ca2+ Propagation via Non-Genetic Optical Stimulation](/publication/cardiac-microphysiological-system-studying-ca2-propagation-non-genetic-optical)”. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 217 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.3791/67823) *In vitro* cardiac microphysiological models are highly reliable for scientific research, drug development, and medical applications. Although widely accepted by the scientific community, these systems are still limited in longevity due to the absence of... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.3791/67823) 159 ., Zimmerman JF, Drennan DJ, Ikeda J, Jin Q, Ardoña HAM, Kim SL, Ishii R, and Parker KK. 2025. “[Bioinspired Design of a Tissue-Engineered Ray With Machine Learning](/publication/bioinspired-design-tissue-engineered-ray-machine-learning)”. Science Robotics, 10, 99 159 ., Zimmerman JF, Drennan DJ, Ikeda J, Jin Q, Ardoña HAM, Kim SL, Ishii R, and Parker KK. 2025. “[Bioinspired Design of a Tissue-Engineered Ray With Machine Learning](/publication/bioinspired-design-tissue-engineered-ray-machine-learning)”. Science Robotics, 10, 99 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adr6472) - [ picture\_as\_pdfBioinspired design of a t...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Bioinspired%20design%20of%20a%20tissue-engineered%20ray%20with%20machine%20learning.pdf) In biomimetic design, researchers recreate existing biological structures to form functional devices. For biohybrid robotic swimmers assembled with tissue engineering, this is problematic because most devices operate at different length scales than their... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.adr6472) - [ picture\_as\_pdfBioinspired design of a t...](/sites/g/files/omnuum8351/files/2025-11/Bioinspired%20design%20of%20a%20tissue-engineered%20ray%20with%20machine%20learning.pdf) [ More arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications)