From Bacterial Mechanics to Biofilm Mechanics

Abstract: Bacteria underpin planetary health, biotechnology and many aspects of human society, but they also drive major challenges including chronic infection, antimicrobial resistance, biofouling, infrastructure degradation. It is therefore essential to understand the mechanics of bacteria and biofilms.

In this informal seminar, I will discuss how mechanical approaches, including CFD, can help us understand bacterial behaviour and biofilm development across different bacterial systems. Rather than focusing on a single organism, the talk will use selected examples to illustrate common mechanical principles, from single-cell mechanics and twitching motility to surface attachment, biofilm growth and detachment under flow. I will cover both experimental measurements and computational modelling, with examples from our recent work on bacterial and biofilm mechanics, as well as antibiofilm surfaces.

Bio: Jinju Chen is Full Professor of Advanced Materials and Biointerfaces at Loughborough University, UK, where she also serves as Research Director for Materials. An internationally recognised leader in advanced biointerface engineering and nanobiomechanics, she has secured more than £9 million in research funding from major national and international agencies. Her research spans nanobiomechanics, antimicrobial and antibiofilm surfaces, cell–material interactions, and physics-informed computational modelling, with a particular focus on developing multiscale orthopaedic implant materials and bioinspired interfaces to combat biofilm formation and infection.

Professor Chen has supervised and mentored approximately 25 postdoctoral researchers and PhD students. She serves as Principal Editor for the Journal of Materials Research and sits on the Editorial Boards of Scientific Reports, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, and Acta Mechanica Sinica. She is a member of the UK Research and Innovation Talent Peer Review College and regularly serves on UKRI funding panels across healthcare technologies, engineering, and physical sciences. In addition, she reviews research proposals for funding agencies in the UK, Europe, and Singapore, and has delivered more than 90 invited and keynote lectures internationally. Professor Chen has authored 89 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals including Advanced Functional Materials, Physical Review Letters, Acta Biomaterialia, Nanoscale, and ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, as well as two book chapters. She has been recognised in the Stanford University/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List annually since 2021.