Overarching theme: Our lab addresses fundamental questions in biomedical research concerning morphogenesis—a process that controls the shape, size, number, and spatial distribution of cells as they collectively organize into multicellular communities to build tissue barriers, large-scale networks (connectomes), and functional organs. This process is subject to perturbations triggered by various stress signals, including mechanical injury, pharmaceutical drugs, neoplastic growth, and microbial infections. Cells can sense these signals and adaptively alter their morphology and growth rate to maintain fitness under stress. This cellular resilience deteriorates with age and varies widely among individuals and even across species. However, it remains only partially understood how cells detect stress and what forces they engage to reshape themselves and limit their growth rate under stress. Tackling these questions is the global objective of our research program. To achieve this, we utilize an interdisciplinary approach encompassing quantitative microscopy and biophysics to measure single-cell growth and form, clinically-relevant pharmacotherapeutic perturbations, and various methods of physicochemical analysis along with molecular -omics allowing us to comprehend the cross-talk between cellular form and its molecular state. We verify our findings, primarily obtained in reductionist settings, in clinical patient samples, allowing us to bridge the fundamental chemical and physical biology of the cell with clinical sciences.