Christian Franck

About

Christian Franck is the Bjorn Borgen Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and serves as the acting director of the Center for Traumatic Brain Injury. His research program within the PANTHER initiative focuses on advanced detection and prevention of traumatic brain injuries by translating basic science discoveries into solutions for civilian and warfighter protection. His lab develops innovative 2D and 3D full-field imaging and motion tracking techniques with applications in mechanobiology, biomechanics, and the mechanics of soft materials. Current research areas include investigating the mechanobiology of neurons during traumatic brain injuries, the adhesion and migration behavior of human neutrophils, and the role of non-linear material deformations in soft matter. Franck's work aims to provide insights into injury mechanisms and develop protective strategies through experimental characterization and modeling of soft tissues and cellular responses.

Research topics

• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Physics
• Algorithm
• Cancer research
• Cell biology
• Classical mechanics
• Geology
• Genetics
• Biology

Selected publications

• Breast tumor stiffness instructs bone metastasis via maintenance of mechanical conditioning

  Cell Reports · 2021 · 82 citations

  While the immediate and transitory response of breast cancer cells to pathological stiffness in their native microenvironment has been well explored, it remains unclear how stiffness-induced phenotypes are maintained over time after cancer cell dissemination in vivo. Here, we show that fibrotic-like matrix stiffness promotes distinct metastatic phenotypes in cancer cells, which are preserved after transition to softer microenvironments, such as bone marrow. Using differential gene expression ana…

  PublisherDOI

• A quantitative relationship between rotational head kinematics and brain tissue strain from a 2-D parametric finite element analysis

  Brain Multiphysics · 2021 · 55 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Given the complex nature of traumatic brain injury (TBI), assessment of injury risk directly from kinematic measures of head motion remains a challenge. Despite this challenge, kinematic-based measures of injury continue to be widely used to guide the design of protective equipment. In an effort to provide more insight into the relationship between rotational head kinematics and injury risk, we have conducted a large scale parametric finite element analysis (FEA) to investigate the role of angul…

  DOI

• Augmented Lagrangian Digital Volume Correlation (ALDVC)

  Experimental Mechanics · 2020 · 50 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Monocytes use protrusive forces to generate migration paths in viscoelastic collagen-based extracellular matrices

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2025-06-16 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  Circulating monocytes are recruited to the tumor microenvironment, where they can differentiate into macrophages that mediate tumor progression. To reach the tumor microenvironment, monocytes must first extravasate and migrate through the type-1 collagen rich stromal matrix. The viscoelastic stromal matrix around tumors not only stiffens relative to normal stromal matrix, but often exhibits enhanced viscous characteristics, as indicated by a higher loss tangent or faster stress relaxation rate.…

  PublisherDOI

• Cortical spheroids show strain-dependent cell viability loss and neurite disruption following sustained compression injury

  PLoS ONE · 2024-08-19 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Sustained compressive injury (SCI) in the brain is observed in numerous injury and pathological scenarios, including tumors, ischemic stroke, and traumatic brain injury-related tissue swelling. Sustained compressive injury is characterized by tissue loading over time, and currently, there are few in vitro models suitable to study neural cell responses to strain-dependent sustained compressive injury. Here, we present an in vitro model of sustained compressive neural injury via centrifugation. Sp…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Use of Biomimicry to Determine the Effect of Sepsis on Neutrophil Traction

  NIH · $2.1M · 2015–2021

Frequent coauthors

• Jonathan B. Estrada

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  59 shared

• Mohak Patel

  53 shared

• Jonathan S. Reichner

  Rhode Island Hospital

  48 shared

• David L. Henann

  John Brown University

  41 shared

• Harry C. Cramer

  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

  38 shared

• Eyal Bar-Kochba

  Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

  33 shared

• Alexander K. Landauer

  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  32 shared

• Jennet Toyjanova

  Providence College

  31 shared

Labs

• Christian Franck LabPI

Awards & honors

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fellow (2025)
• Society for Experimental Mechanics, Fellow (2025)
• College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, H.I…
• Society for Experimental Mechanics, M. Hetenyi Best Journal…
• College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bjo…

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