When
Monday, December 8, 2025, 12:00 p.m.
Jenny Munson
Professor and Director, Cancer Research Center Roanoke, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech-Carilion
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Tech
"Interstitial Fluid Flow in the Brain Tumor Microenvironment"
Keating 103 | Zoom link
Hosts: Swarna Ganesh and Kellen Chen
Abstract: Fluid flow in the brain is an emerging area of research with implications in Alzheimer’s, aging, brain homeostasis, development, and cancer. In cancers, fluid flow is increased as pressure builds as tumors grow. In my laboratory, we study the role of interstitial fluid flow, or the fluid flow within the spaces of tissues, on cellular behaviors. We have developed an array of techniques and tools to measure, model, and manipulate fluid flow in the brain.
In glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer, cellular invasion is a defining factor of its resistance to therapeutic intervention and poor patient prognosis. Invasion in the brain follows distinctive routes that correlate with interstitial and bulk flow pathways. To examine how interstitial fluid flow interacts with this specific invasive microenvironment, we have developed tissue engineered models of the brain that recapitulate patient tissue. We have found that interstitial flow can enhance invasion of brain cancer cells, mediated simultaneously by chemical and mechanical mechanisms.
In order to better understand the nature of interstitial flow and its potential for prognosis and therapeutic intervention, we have developed MR imaging methods and analyses to map fluid flow routes in and around brain tumors. In this talk, I will discuss the nature and implications of interstitial fluid flow in the brain, identifying both tissue-level and cellular-level mechanisms and how our lab uses diverse approaches (in vitro, in vivo, ex vivo, in silico) to study this phenomenon. Then I will discuss how we can leverage flow to treat disease.
Bio: Jenny Munson is a professor and director of the Cancer Research Center Roanoke at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech-Carilion and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Tech. She received her BS in chemical engineering and neuroscience from Tulane University. She received her PhD in bioengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and completed her postdoctoral training at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). During her training, she was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Program and the Whitaker Foundation.
Her laboratory studies the role of fluid flow in tissue homeostasis and disease with a specific focus on cancer and neurological disorders. Munson has received funding from the NCI, NINDS, NIA, NCATS, Lipedema Foundation and the Sebastian Strong Foundation. Munson has been awarded the Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Young Innovator Award and the Emerging Leader Award by the Ivy Foundation. She was recently conferred the distinction of Fellow by the Biomedical Engineering Society and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.
Accessibility: Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting the Disability Resource Center at 621-3268 (V/TTY).