Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering

Sean Sun


Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Institute for NanoBioTechnology
Secondary Appointment: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Latrobe 105 (office)
410-516-4003 (office)
ssun@jhu.edu (primary)

Education

Ph.D. 1994, University of California Berkeley
B.S. 1990, Pennsylvania State University

Research Areas

Theoretical biomechanics and biophysics
Statistical Mechanics
Proteins and Membranes
Molecular Motors
Cell Motility

Journal Articles

Nilsen, N., Brownell, W.E., Sun, S.X., Spector, A.A. (2012). Effect of membrane mechanics on charge transfer by the membrane protein prestin.. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 11(2-Jan). 107-18.
DOI »
Powers, R.J., Roy, S., Atilgan, E., Brownell, W.E., Sun, S.X., Gillespie, P.G., Spector, A.A. (2012). Stereocilia Membrane Deformation: Implications for the Gating Spring and Mechanotransduction Channel. Biophysical Journal. 102(2). 201-210.
DOI » View record in Web of Science SM
Walcott, S., Kim, D., Wirz, D., Sun, S.X. (2011). Nucleation and Decay Initiation Are the Stiffness-Sensitive Phases of Focal Adhesion Maturation. Biophysical Journal. 101(12). 2919-2928.
DOI » View record in Web of Science SM
Sun, S.X., Jiang, H. (2011). Physics of Bacterial Morphogenesis. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 75(4). 543-565.
DOI » View record in Web of Science SM
Jiang, H., Si, F., Margolin, W., Sun, S.X. (2011). Mechanical Control of Bacterial Cell Shape. Biophysical Journal. 101(2). 327-335.
DOI » View record in Web of Science SM

Awards & Honors

2010 - 2013: Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship
2009 - 2011: Johns Hopkins University Faculty Scholar
2006 - 2011: National Science Foundation CAREER Award
1992 - 1994: Eberly College of Science Scholar, Pennsylvania State University
1990 - 1994: University Scholar, Pennsylvania State University

Presentations

Mechanochemical processes in biology. Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat van Amsterdam. Amsterdam, Netherlands., December 21, 2010
Cellular mechanosenestion. FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics. Amsterdam, Netherlands., December 20, 2010
Mechanical control of bacterial cell shape. Zing conferences on Bacterial Cell Biology. Mexico, November 16, 2010
Mechanochemical processes in biology: Department of mechanical engineering. Columbia University. New York, October 15, 2010
Mechanochemical processes in biology. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder., October 13, 2010
Mechanochemical processes in biology: Department of chemistry and biochemistry. University of Maryland College Park. College Park., October 7, 2010
Cellular mechanosensation. Shanghai conference on biophysics. Shanghai China, August 12, 2010
Cellular mechanosensation. World Congress on Computational Mechanics. State College. PA., July 13, 2010
Mechanics of bacterial morphogenesis. SIAM Conference on Mathematical Aspects of Material Science. Philadelphia PA., May 18, 2010
Cellular mechanosensation. Mathematical BioScience Institute. Ohio State. Columbus OH., April 12, 2010
Mechanical control of bacterial cell shape. APS National Meeting. Portland OR., March 10, 2010
Flexoelectricity. Telluride Workshop on Biophysics of Cellular Membranes. Telluride CO., March 3, 2010
Morphology, growth and size limit of bacterial cells. Co-presentation with Hongyuan Jiang. Biophysical Society Meeting. Boston MA, February 10, 2010
Mechanobiology of Bacterial Cell Division Mechanobiology Workshop. Singapore. 2008-11-08. (Invited), November 8, 2008
Dynamics of Bacterial Cell Division Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting. St. Louis. 2008-10-02. (Invited), October 2, 2008
Mechanics of Dimeric Processive Motors Departmental Seminar. Singapore. 2008-08-22., August 22, 2008
Dynamics of FtsZ and Bacterial Cell Division Departmental Seminar. Singapore. 2008-08-21. (Invited), August 21, 2008
Dynamics of Bacterial Cell Division American Chemical Society Meeting. Philadelphia. 2008-08-11. (Invited), August 11, 2008
A General Framework for Modeling Dimeric Processive Motors Gordon Research Conference on Muscle and Molecular Motors. New Hampshire. 2008-06-28. (Invited), June 28, 2008
Coarse-grained Models of Biomolecular Motion American Chemical Society Meeting. New Orleans. 2008-04-18. (Invited), April 18, 2008
Dynamics of Bacterial Cell Division Departmental Seminar. JHU Baltimore. 2008-02-16. (Invited), February 16, 2008
Mechanics of bacterial cell division Asian Pacific Conference on Computational Mechanics. Kyoto, Japan. 2007-12-00. (Invited), November 30, 2007
Mechanics of bacterial cell division Center of theoretical biology seminar. Peking University, China. 2007-12-00. (Invited), November 30, 2007
Mechanics of bacterial cell division Biomedical engineering society meeting. Los Angeles, CA. 2007-09-00. (Invited), August 31, 2007
Mechanics of bacterial cell division Biophysics Seminar. UCLA. 2007-09-00. (Invited), August 31, 2007
Interplay of Mechanics and Chemistry in Biology Computational Life Sciences Seminar. Emory University, Atlanta GA. 2007-05-00. (Invited), April 30, 2007
Interplay of Mechanics and Chemistry in Biology Seminar, department of chemical physics. NIH, Bethesda, MD. 2007-05-00. (Invited), April 30, 2007
Structural Modeling of Molecular Motors Single Molecule Modeling Symposium. Lorentz Center, Leiden, Holland. 2007-04-00. (Invited), March 31, 2007
Interplay of Mechanics and Chemistry in Biology Bioengineering departmental seminar. UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA. 2007-03-00. (Invited), February 28, 2007
Mechanics of Bacterial cell division Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Computational Biology. Cold Spring Harbor, NY. 2007-03-00., February 28, 2007
Bacterial Cell Division and the Z-ring Single Molecule Biophysics Meeting. Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen, CO. 2007-02-00., January 31, 2007
Cell division in rod-like bacteria and the dynamics of the peptidoglycan cell wall Biophysical society meeting. Baltimore MD. 2007-02-00., January 31, 2007
Interplay of mechanics and chemistry in biology Departmental seminar, Biology. Johns Hopkins University. 2006-12-00. (Invited), November 30, 2006
Physics of bacterial cell division Departmental seminar. Microbiology dept. University of Kansas Medical School. 2006-12-00. (Invited), November 30, 2006
Physics of bacterial cell division Departmental seminar. IPST, university of maryland. 2006-11-00. (Invited), October 31, 2006
Computational modeling of the cellular leading edge BMES national meeting. Chicago. 2006-10-00. (Invited), September 30, 2006
Interplay of mechanics and chemistry in biology Departmental seminar. Rice University. 2006-10-00. (Invited), September 30, 2006
Computational modeling of the cellular leading edge World congress on biomechanics. Munich, Germany. 2006-08-00. (Invited), July 31, 2006
Continuum models of protein secondary structures World congress on computational mechanics. Los Angeles. 2006-07-00. (Invited), June 30, 2006
Computational modeling of the cellular leading edge IPAM symposium on computational systems biology. UCLA. 2006-05-00. (Invited), April 30, 2006
Continuum models of protein secondary structures Steenbock conference on biomolecular dynamics. Madison, WI. 2006-05-00. (Invited), April 30, 2006
How do molecules walk? Kavli institute of physics workshop on biological machines. UC Santa Barbara . 2006-04-00. (Invited), March 31, 2006
Bending Elasticity of Parallel Beta-sheets Biophysical Society Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah. 2006-03-00., February 28, 2006
Dynamics of unconventional myosins Departmental Seminar. University of connecticut health center. 2006-03-00. (Invited), February 28, 2006
Flexible Light-chain and the Helical Structure of F-actin Explain the Movement and Stepsize of Myosin-VI Biophysical Society Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah. 2006-03-00., February 28, 2006
Membrane shape transitions and protein mediated vesicle fission and fusion Biophysical Society Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah. 2006-03-00., February 28, 2006
Structure and Topology of Model Chromatin Fibers without Linker Histone H1 Biophysical Society Meeting. Salt Lake City, Utah. 2006-03-00., February 28, 2006
Computational modeling of cytoskeletal dynamics Departmental seminar. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. 2006-02-00. (Invited), January 31, 2006
Dynamical Model of Skeletal Muscle Contraction BMES National Meeting. Baltimore, MD. 2005-10-00. (Invited), September 30, 2005
Quantifying the Molecular Origins of Biological Movement Departmental Seminar. Chemistry, JHU. 2005-09-00. (Invited), August 31, 2005
Dynamics of Acto-Myosin Interaction SIAM National Meeting. New Orleans. 2005-06-00. (Invited), May 31, 2005
Cell motility and the cell membrane Department Seminar. University van Amsterdam, Amsterdam. 2005-05-16. (Invited), May 16, 2005
Myosin as cellular engines: from single molecules to muscle contraction Institute Seminar. FOM Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics: Amsterdam. 2005-05-14. (Invited), May 14, 2005
Dynamics of Acto-Myosin Interaction: From Single Molecules to Muscle Contraction Biophysics Departmental Seminar. UNC, Chapel Hill, NC. 2005-02-00. (Invited), January 31, 2005
Dynamics of Filopodia Protrusion and Actin Network Organization Biophysical Society Meeting. Long Beach, CA. 2005-02-00., January 31, 2005
Molecular Approach to the Dynamical Behavior of Skeletal Muscle Biophysical Society Meeting. Long Beach, CA. 2005-02-00., January 31, 2005
The elasticity of alpha-helices Biophysical Society Meeting. Long Beach, CA. 2005-02-00., January 31, 2005
From Single Molecules to Muscle Contraction Single Molecule Biophysics Conference. Aspen Colorado. 2005-01-02. (Invited), January 2, 2005
Dynamics of Acto-myosin Interactions. Laboratory Seminar. Los Alamos Laboratory. 2004-11-07. (Invited), November 7, 2004
Dynamics of Acto-myosin Interactions, from Single Molecules to Muscle Contraction . University of Wisconsin, Madison. 2004-09-16. (Invited), September 16, 2004
Dynamics of Myosin-V Processivity Gordon Research Conference on Mathematical Biology. New Hampshire. 2004-06-11. (Invited), June 11, 2004
Dynamics of Molecular Motors Departmental Seminar. ME, Johns Hopkins Univ.. 2004-04-06. (Invited), April 6, 2004
Dynamics of Molecular Motors Departmental Seminar. BME, Johns Hopkins University. 2004-03-17. (Invited), March 17, 2004
Dynamics of Molecular Motors Departmental Seminar. Physics department, University of Connecticut. 2004-02-16. (Invited), February 16, 2004
Asymmetries in F1-ATPase and its Implications in Rotational Cycle Statistical Mechanics Meeting. Berkeley, CA. 2004-01-06., January 6, 2004
Equilibrium Free Energies from Path Sampling of Non-equilibrium Trajectories Statistical Physics Seminar Series. IPST, University of Maryland. 2003-08-21. (Invited), August 21, 2003
Dynamics of ATP Synthase Motor Biophysics Seminar Series. FOM Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Amsterdam, Holland. 2003-06-10. (Invited), June 10, 2003

Committees

2007 - 2010: Graduate Recruitment Committee
2004 - 2010: Computing Committee
2003 - 2010: Biomechanics Concentration Committee
2004 - 2004: Biomechanics Seminar Series, JHU