Dr Thomas Miller

My role as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Animal Vibration Lab involves using state-of-the-art laboratory equipment to measure the miniscule forces that cells use to communicate. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a network of proteins (predominantly collagen) and other macromolecules which cells adhere to for structural support within a tissue. It is known that cells exert forces upon the ECM, which are received by other cells and used as signals, for example to stimulate fibrosis. What is less clear is whether these forces are applied dynamically as well as statically, and whether dynamic oscillations propagate as vibrational waves through tissues and encode information for cell-to-cell communication. My research, funded by the Human Frontier Science Programe, aims to investigate this potentially overlooked form of signalling.

My DPhil and previous PDRA position at the University of Oxford specifically focused on using laser vibrometry to quantify the dynamics of vibration transmission through the body of the tarantula Grammostola pulchra. Other research has included the biomechanics and neurophysiology of singing crickets, the behaviour of fiddler crabs in the field in Portugal, and sexual selection in fruit flies.