Teaching
Soft Tissue Biomechanics ( BME 5810/MAE 5680 - fa 2009 )Link to Syllabus
Blackboard URL
Course Description: This course introduces students to concepts and theory of biomechanics and their application to understanding the material behavior of soft tissues. Topics include tensor operations, finite strain, fiber directions, constitutive modeling, residual stress, matrix and cellular mechanotransduction, and experimental methodologies. Tissues to be discussed include tendons, blood vessels, heart valves, cartilage, and engineered tissues. We will also discuss how tissue biomechanics are altered by changes in the underlying structural biology in conditions such as growth, aging, and disease. Student performance will be assessed through periodic homework assignments, critical analyses of relevant articles from the primary literature, two prelim exams, and a final group term project. Classroom pedagogy will involve principles of ‘active learning’ with classroom activities and discussions designed to incorporate peer learning.
Natural Engineering ( BME 6501/VTBMS 6501 - sp 2010 )
Link to Syllabus
Blackboard URL
Course Description: This class focuses on highlighting engineering paradigms that help shape embryonic development, how they are reactivated in adult diseases, and explore ways they can be capitalized to enable new medical therapies. We'll cover stem cell self renewal and differentiation, gastrulation, body patterning, and the morphogenesis of several key organ systems with an emphasis of the critical biophysical/mechanical mechanisms at play. We'll then use this information to look at several adult diseases, such as heart attacks, cancer, and bone healing from this new perspective.