David Odde is a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota who studies the mechanics of cell division and migration. Trained academically as chemical engineer, Odde joined the newly created Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1999. In his research, Odde?s group builds computer models of cellular and molecular self-assembly and force-generation-dissipation dynamics, and tests the models experimentally using digital microscopic imaging of cells ex vivo and in engineered microenvironments. Current applications include the modeling of chemotherapeutic effects on cell division, molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and migration of cancer cells through complex microenvironments such as the brain. Ultimately, his group seeks to use the models to perform virtual screens of potential therapeutic strategies (oddelab.umn.edu). Dr. Odde is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and is the contact Principal Investigator for the Physical Sciences in Oncology Center at the University of Minnesota (psoc.umn.edu), which is focused on modeling the mechanics of cancer cell migration in biologically relevant contexts.