Current Research

My research builds predictive mechanical models that connect how soft tissues fold during development to how they fail in disease, from single cells to whole organs.

Mechanics of acute appendicitis (University of Notre Dame, with Prof. Maria Holland). I develop layer-resolved, nonlinear finite element models of the human appendix wall (mucosa, submucosa, inner and outer muscularis, and serosa) to compare stress and strain across normal, purulent and gangrenous stages under rising luminal pressure, with volumetric growth to capture lumen-narrowing lymphoid hyperplasia. I am also linking clinical biomarkers to tissue mechanics for earlier diagnosis. This work received an Indiana CTSI (NIH) Postdoc Challenge Award.

Growth mechanics of brain development (with Prof. David Van Essen, Washington University in St. Louis, and Prof. Maria Holland). I apply continuum growth mechanics to telencephalic development in the mouse brain.

Cellular mechanics of epithelial folding (Ph.D., Texas Tech University, with Prof. Jerzy Blawzdziewicz). Using advanced vertex models matched to live-imaging data, I showed that cephalic furrow formation in the Drosophila embryo proceeds in two mechanically distinct phases: a progression phase explained by changes in membrane length, tension and cell pressure, and an initiation phase that requires an additional inward force from tension along the curved furrow cleft.

Data-driven inference of tissue mechanics. I am applying Bayesian physics-informed neural networks (B-PINNs) to neutrophil swarming, and I have contributed to reduced-order models of drug transport in solid tumors and to hydrodynamic models of particle transport by cilia arrays.

Publications

Journal articles

R. A. Niloy, M. C. Holcomb, J. H. Thomas, J. Blawzdziewicz. The mechanics of cephalic furrow formation in the Drosophila embryo. Biophysical Journal (2023).

M. M. H. Akash, M. Yeasin, S. Mahmoudirad, R. A. Niloy, J. Mohammad, K. Reindl, A. Pandey, S. Basu. Reduced-order modelling of solute transport within physiologically realistic solid tumor microenvironment. Frontiers in Pharmacology (2026).

Under review

R. A. Niloy, G.-J. J. Gao, M. C. Holcomb, J. H. Thomas, J. Blawzdziewicz. The role of local and long-range stresses in cephalic furrow formation in the Drosophila melanogaster embryo. Soft Matter, under review. bioRxiv preprint.

In preparation

R. A. Niloy, M. C. Holcomb, J. H. Thomas, J. Blawzdziewicz. Curvature-based vertex modelling: an alternative automated approach to study embryogenesis.

R. A. Niloy, M. Holland. The biomechanical model of the human appendix during acute appendicitis.

R. A. Niloy, M. Holland. Integrating clinical biomarkers with tissue mechanics for early detection of acute appendicitis.

N. Demirci, R. A. Niloy, M. Holland, D. Van Essen. Understanding the role of mechanical factors in telencephalic mouse brain development.

A. Harun, R. A. Niloy, J. Blawzdziewicz. Understanding the hydrodynamics of metachronal waves in ciliary motion.

Ph.D. dissertation

R. A. Niloy. Cellular mechanics of cephalic furrow formation in the Drosophila embryo. Texas Tech University (2024).

Selected Presentations

Mechanics of Biological Phenomena: From Embryogenesis to Inflammation. Future Faculty Poster, Summer Bioengineering Conference (SB3C), Albuquerque, NM, June 2025.

The role of tensile stress in the initiation and coordination of cephalic furrow formation in the Drosophila embryo. IUTAM Symposium on Theoretical and Numerical Developments in Cellular Mechanobiology, Seville, Spain, June 2024.

Talks on cephalic furrow mechanics and vertex modelling at the APS March Meeting (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and the 19th U.S. National Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (2022).

Circular-rower model of particle transport by cilia arrays in parallel-wall channels. 76th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics, November 2023.

Undergraduate Thesis (BUET)

In my undergrad senior year, I completed a "Thesis" equivalent to six (06) credit hours titled "Transonic Aerodynamics with Airfoil Cascade".