Claudia Fischbach

Stanley Bryer 1946 Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering

Biography

Claudia Fischbach-Teschl is the Director of Cornell’s Physical Sciences Oncology Center on the Physics of Cancer Metabolism. She received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology from the University of Regensburg, Germany and holds an M.S. in Pharmacy from the Ludwigs-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. She conducted her postdoctoral work at Harvard University in the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences and joined the faculty of Cornell in 2007. Dr. Fischbach-Teschl’s lab applies biomedical engineering strategies to study cancer with the ultimate goal of identifying new mechanisms that may ultimately help to prevent and treat this disease. She serves on the NIH Tumor Microenvironment Study Section and is an editorial board member of various journals including the new ACS journal Biomaterials Science and Engineering.

Cellular interactions with their surrounding including other cells and extracellular matrix are critically important in the development and progression of cancer. However, current cancer research mostly studies cells under conditions that do not reflect how cells exist in the body. By exploring tissue engineering, microfabrication, and biomaterials strategies the Fischbach-Teschl lab engineers model systems that allow studying tumor cells under conditions that mimic those within patients. In particular, the Fischbach-Teschl lab uses these model systems to gain a better understanding of the biological and physical principles that tumors use to modulate the function of normal blood vessels, stem cells, and bone in order to become more aggressive and ultimately metastasize to distant sites.

Research Interests

Selected Publications

Fischbach-Teschl, Claudia, M. G. McCoy, B. R. Seo, S. Choi. 2016. “Collagen I hydrogel microstructure and composition conjointly regulate vascular network formation.” Acta Biomateriala 44.
Fischbach-Teschl, Claudia, Bo Ri Seo, Priya Bhardwaj, Jacqueline Gonzalez, Roberto C.A. Eguiluz, Karin Wang, Sunish Mohanan, Xi K. Zhou, Linda T. Vahdat, Olivier Elemento, Clifford A. Hudis, Rebecca M. Williams, Delphine Gourdon, Andrew J. Dannenberg, Siyoung Choi, Patrick G. Morris, Baoheng Du, Akanksha Verma. 2015. “Obesity-dependent changes in interstitial ECM mechanics promote breast tumorigenesis.” Science translational medicine 7 (301): 301ra130.
Seo, B R., P. Delnero, C Fischbach. 2014. “In vitro models of tumor vessels and matrix: engineering approaches to investigate transport limitations and drug delivery in cancer.” Advanced drug delivery reviews 69-70: 205-216.
Lynch , ME, D. Brooks, K. Dent, M. van der Meulen, Claudia Fischbach. 2013. “In Vivo Tibial Compression Decreases Osteolysis and Tumor Formation in a Human Metastatic Breast Cancer Model.” Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 28 (11): 2357-67.
Pathi, S P., D D W. Lin, J R. Dorvee, L A. Estroff, Claudia Fischbach. 2011. “Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticle-containing scaffolds for study of breast cancer bone metastasis.” Biomaterials 32 (22): 5112-22.

Selected Awards and Honors

Research Excellence Award (Cornell College of Engineering) 2016
Elected Fellow (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering) 2016
Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers (Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany) 2013
ORS Young Investigator (AAOS / ORS Molecular Biology and Therapeutics in Musculoskeletal Oncology (MBTMO) Meeting) 2008
Invited Speaker (Gordon Research Conference, “Mammary Gland Biology” at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont) 2015

Education

M.S. (Pharmacy), Ludwig Maximilians University, 1998
Ph.D. (Pharmaceutical Technology), University of Regensburg, 2003