Investigating the effect of fluid shear stress on the failure of Investigating the effect of fluid shear stress on the failure of cancer cell membranes: an experimental and computational cancer cell membranes: an experimental and computational analysis analysis VanDenBosch, Leah M.. "Investigating the effect of fluid shear stress on the failure of cancer cell membranes: an experimental and computational analysis." MS (Master of Science) thesis, University of Iowa, 2018. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There is a plethora of people who have impacted and influenced my personal and academic life. I can acknowledge many people generally and a few specifically, but I hope each person knows how much I appreciate them. My family and friends have been a constant source of support, providing kind encouragement, therapeutic laughter, much-needed distractions from work, and patient understanding when I needed to put my work before them. My sanity would not have survived without them. Dr. Sarah Vigmostad, my research advisor, has been a valuable source of opportunity, experience, wisdom, and guidance through both my undergraduate and graduate studies. My gratitude to her for her commitment and encouragement cannot be overstated. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Jia Lu, who co-mentored the computational modeling aspect of the project; my other thesis committee members, for their advice and support; and Ben Krog and Devon Moose, who trained me in various experimental procedures and provided me with cell cultures.It truly takes an entire community to allow the success of one person. If I have advanced science at all, it was not through any extraordinary ability of mine, but through the contributive efforts of an enormous scientific and social community. I am thankful for them all.iii ABSTRACT Cancer metastasis, or the formation of a secondary tumor at a site distant from the primary tumor, is known to be an inefficient process. Historically, it was believed that the shear stresses and forces experienced by cancer cells traveling through the circulatory system are major limiting factors to their metastatic potential and viability. High levels of fluid shear stress are