Kris Dahl
Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Courtesy Appointment, Materials Science and Engineering
Kris N. Dahl is an associate professor in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Carnege Mellon University, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Dahl joined Carnegie Mellon University in 2006. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon in 1998 and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. Her thesis research was on the mechanics and architecture of composite membrane systems under the supervision of Dennis Discher. Dahl then completed a postdoctoral appointment at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Cell Biology where she focused on the biochemical and functional analysis of spectrin-repeat complexes at the nuclear envelope under Katherine L. Wilson.
Dahl's research uses rheological, biophysical, and optical techniques to understand the structure and organization of the cell nucleus. These studies are relevant to dissecting the molecular pathology of diseases caused by defects in nuclear structure.
Chemical Engineering and Chocolate: A Sweet Combination
Discovering Spectrin: A New Mechanical Element
Cell Mechanics
Molecular Biomechanics
Education
2005 Postdoctoral fellowship, Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
2004 Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Pennylvania
1998 BS, Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Research Interests
Media mentions
CMU Engineering
Commonalities found between viral infections and ovarian cancer
Apparent similarities between latent DNA viral infections and quiescent cancer cells could lead to new treatments for ovarian cancer.
CMU Engineering
Calcium helps build strong cells
Research from ChemE’s Kris Dahl marks the first definitive look at how cells maintain structural integrity under mechanical strain.
AIMBE
Bettinger, Dahl, and Zhang named AIMBE Fellows
BME/MSE’s Christopher Bettinger, BME/ChemE’s Kris Dahl, and MechE’s Jessica Zhang have been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)’s College of Fellows, Class of 2020. Zhang has also been elected as an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fellow (2020).
CMU Engineering
Move to remote research invites innovation
While much of our lives can now function remotely, the transition to online poses unique challenges for academia—particularly for research universities like Carnegie Mellon.
CMU Engineering
The future of human healing lies in the brain of a starfish
Stem cell therapy is about to get a whole lot cheaper, thanks to the incredible regenerative powers of starfish.
CMU Engineering
“Seeing” the dual-layered scaffolding of cellular nuclei
Using super-sensitive microscopic imaging, Kris Dahl partnered with Pitt/UPMC to make a fundamental biological discovery that could be key to untangling the mechanisms underlying several genetic diseases.
CMU Engineering
Dahl uses sensors to measure forces within cell monolayers
ChemE’s Kris Dahl is using a new technique called SINK (sensors from intranuclear kinetics) to observe the properties of an entire monolayer of cells and determine how broadly cells communicate.
CMU Engineering
Separation line
Carnegie Mellon researchers have developed a novel device that separates blood cells using sound waves.
Phys.org
Dahl and Armiger’s research featured in Phys.org
ChemE’s Kris Dahl and Travis Armiger recently discovered that the cell nucleus recovers from major deformations in part because of a spring-like, mechanical element called a spectrin protein that exists in the nucleus.
CMU Engineering
Department news
The initiatives underway in the College’s departments embody the value we place on progress. Here are some of our current projects and prides.