Lisa Manning, an associate professor in the department of physics at Syracuse University, will soon become the first woman to receive a prestigious science award from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

The Young Scientist Prize will be awarded to Manning at its international conference on Statistical Physics July 18 through July 22 in Lyon, France. The Young Scientist Prize is awarded to those that demonstrate notable achievement and potential in experimental or theoretical statistical physics.

Manning said she has a curiosity in the activity of biological cells and how materials behave.

“I’m interested in a broad class of materials that share features of fluids and solids, they are something in between,” Manning said. “My favorite example is sand. You can walk across sand on a beach, like a solid, but it runs through your hands like a fluid. There are so many materials that share this dual character.”

Biological cells also do this where they switch from a solid to a fluid, Manning said.

“In embryonic development, cells have to travel from long distances in order to get to the right place, like the brain or the gut,” she said. “In that process they behave much like a fluid. But then as an adult, most of our bodies is solid-like.”

Manning’s current project involves studying cancer and congenital diseases. She said she has a collaborator in Germany who is able to measure the mechanical properties of cancer cells, from breast cancer to cervical cancer, taken from patients.

“What we find is that these cells are very mechanically different from each other, what we call heterogeneous, some are very soft and some are very thick,” Manning said. “Having both of these type of cells in a tumor makes the cancer potentially more dangerous.”

Currently, she is working with her collaborator on techniques that will determine how invasive the cancer is based on the distribution of cystitis of cells in the tumor.

In terms of congenital disease, she is studying the origins of how the heart ends up on the incorrect side when it forms correctly during embryonic development.

Recently, there has been a social stress on incorporating more women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors throughout numerous colleges, Manning said. Being the first woman to receive such a prestigious award, Manning said she believes that she will serve as a role model and a catalyst in encouraging more women to pursue careers in the sciences.

“In physics, like a lot of other STEM fields, there are not many females. In fact there are less than 25 percent,” she said. “It continues with the wage gap, and having more women in the sciences would slowly eliminate that.”

Manning said she has a strong interest in this issue as she even coached a conference focusing on the gender gap in February. More than 100 undergraduate women attended the conference, but Manning said she wishes that this number would increase throughout the following years.

By receiving the Young Scientist Prize, Manning said she will be allowed to explore more extensive and ambitious topics.

“The nice thing about this award is that it gives me recognition,” Manning said. “It gives me the freedom to work in more adventurous projects.”

The award will not only allow her the freedom of investigating adventurous projects, but it also grants the opportunity for a group of talented students to join in her scientific expedition, Manning said. The award also will make it easier for her to write and receive grants to further pursue her research, she added.

With the help of the award, Manning said she will continue delving and discovering in her project for the next three to five years.

Published on May 2, 2016 at 9:55 pm

Contact Yelisa: yleiva@syr.edu