M. Shane Hutson is the A.B. Learned Professor of Living State Physics and serves as Professor of Physics, Professor of Biological Sciences, and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University. He holds a secondary appointment in Biological Sciences. Hutson received his B.A. in Physics from Wake Forest University in 1992, M.S. in Physics from the same institution in 1993, and Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Virginia in 2000. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Biological Physics at Duke University (2000-2003), he joined Vanderbilt University in 2003 as Assistant Professor of Physics and Biological Sciences, progressing to Associate Professor in 2010 and full Professor in 2016. Additional roles include Deputy Director for Biophotonics and Biomechanics of the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystem Research and Education (VIIBRE) since 2013, Director of the Vanderbilt-Pittsburgh Resource for Organotypic Models for Predictive Toxicology (VPROMPT), ORISE Faculty Fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2012-2013), and Visiting Professor at the University of Waterloo (2007).

Hutson's research in Physics focuses on biological physics, particularly biophotonics for probing and manipulating biological systems with light, biomechanics investigating how cellular forces drive tissue morphogenesis, and systems biology of developmental toxicology examining environmental disruptions to embryonic development. His lab utilizes techniques such as laser microsurgery on Drosophila embryos, finite-element modeling, Video Force Microscopy, confocal microscopy, and organs-on-a-chip technologies to explore epithelial wound healing, cell detection of wounds via calcium signals, and forces in embryogenesis. His work has been supported by grants from the NIH, NSF, EPA, Department of Defense, and Human Frontier Science Program. Hutson has received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award in 2006, Society of Toxicology Bridging Award in 2013, Jeffrey Nordhaus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2007, and Coblentz Society Outstanding Student Award in Vibrational Spectroscopy in 2000. Among his over 47 refereed journal articles are “Elongated cells drive morphogenesis in a surface-wrapped finite element model of germband retraction” (Biophysical Journal, 2019), “Multiple Mechanisms Drive Calcium Signal Dynamics around Laser-Induced Epithelial Wounds” (Biophysical Journal, 2017), “Computational model of secondary palate fusion and disruption” (Chemical Research in Toxicology, 2017), “Amnioserosa development and function in Drosophila embryogenesis” (Developmental Dynamics, 2016), and an earlier seminal paper “Forces for Morphogenesis Investigated with Laser Microsurgery and Quantitative Analysis” (Science, 2003).

Professional Email: shane.hutson@vanderbilt.edu