Denis Wirtz is the vice provost for research and Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor of Engineering Science at Johns Hopkins University.

[1] Wirtz was the first to establish how a three-dimensional environment fundamentally affects the way cancer cells migrate, providing more biologically and medically relevant information than two-dimensional studies.

He was then granted a fellowship through the European Union’s Human Capital and Mobility program to conduct postdoctoral research at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles (ESPCI) in Paris, France.

[15] Wirtz joined the faculty of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University in 1994 and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 2003.

In announcing the Wirtz's appointment, Provost Robert C. Lieberman stated, "As is obvious to all who know him, Denis is an extremely productive and accomplished faculty member and a wonderful colleague.

Those traits will serve both Denis and the university as he works with me to support important multidisciplinary research projects, including the strategic initiatives identified in the campaign, the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships, and multidivisional proposals in response to RFAs (requests for applications).

[38] When the center was established with a $14.8M grant in 2009, Wirtz stated, "For too long, not enough room has been made for nonconventional and nonbiological concepts borrowed from modern physics and engineering to tackle this disease.

"[40] With more than 250 affiliated faculty members from the Johns Hopkins schools of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Medicine, and Public Health and scientists from the Applied Physics Laboratory, the institute is home to several center grants and numerous education, training, and outreach programs.

From 2005 to 2012, he also directed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) funded interdisciplinary graduate research training program in nanotechnology for biology and medicine.

[63][64] Wirtz also served as an expert advisor to the study panel of the international Assessment of Physical sciences and Engineering advances in Life sciences and Oncology (APHELION), which was commissioned by the National Cancer Institute and National Science Foundation in order to “determine the status and trends of applying physical sciences and engineering principles to oncology research and development in leading laboratories and organizations in Europe via an on-site peer review process.”[65] Recent plenary talks include: ASME 2015 4th Global Congress on NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology;[66][67] 2015 Cell Mechanics, Morphogenesis and Pattern Formation Workshop, Isaac Newton Institute at the University of Cambridge;[68] 2015 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit;[69] 2015 American Society for Cell Biology Cell Biology Annual Meeting;[70] 2014 Longrifles Cancer Seminar, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine;[71] and 2014 IUTAM Symposium on Mechanics of Soft Active Materials; 2013 The Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) annual conference in Coimbra, Portugal;[72] distinguished lecturer at the Cancer Nanotechnology Training Center, University of Kentucky.

[75] His research interests include cell biophysics, aging, tumor microenvironment, digital pathology, the actin cap, single molecule manipulation, intracellular particle trafficking, instrument development, tissue engineering, and nanotechnology in biology and medicine.

In particular, he identified LINC complexes and the so-called perinuclear actin cap as key mediators of physical signaling between the cytoplasm and the nuclear interior.

Supporting Publications: Using single-molecule force spectroscopy, his lab showed how intracellular molecules such as a-catenin and b-catenin modulate cell-cell adhesion mediated by E-cadherin.