Pumpkin carving social (Nov 2023)

Tim Josephson's recent publication (Oct 2023)

Harnessing mechanical cues in the cellular microenvironment for bone regeneration

In this review recently published in Frontiers in Physiology, we argue that some of the most important future experiments in orthopaedic mechanobiology will test the effects of multiple, concurrent microenvironmental stimuli on MSCs.

In particular, we review how skeletal cells are responsive to a variety of microenvironmental cues, such as strain, fluid shear stress, curvature, & substrate stiffness. These cues can direct the differentiation of marrow stromal cells (MSCs), either promoting or inhibiting osteogenesis.

Finally, we discuss the current understanding of how MSCs respond to these stimuli, both individually and in combination, and highlight areas where additional work is needed to advance the field of skeletal mechanobiology.

Conference: ASBMR

Tim and Neil both presented posters at the ASBMR 2023 Annual Meeting held in October

Neilesh Frings et al. “Risk of Vertebral Endplate Failure During Vertebral Fracture.” 2023.

Tim Josephson et al. “Tailoring the Mechanical Microenvironment to Enhance Osteogenesis in Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffolds.” 2023.

André Gutiérrez Marty's recent publication (Sep 2023)

Multiscale Theoretical Model shows that aging-related mechanical degradation of cortical bone is driven by microstructural changes in addition to porosity
  • A one-dimensional fiber bundle model was developed to investigate the mechanistic role of microstructural changes in the macroscale mechanical properties of cortical bone.
  • Toughness and ultimate strain of cortical bone were shown to depend the most on post-yield properties of interstitial tissue. This effect is due, in part, to the lack of data describing these properties.
  • By isolating the mechanical behavior of osteon vs. interstitial bone tissue, we found that aging-related changes in the plastic behavior of interstitial tissue directly affects the resulting ultimate strain and toughness of cortical bone at the macroscale.

  • Our findings point to the importance of studying microstructural changes beyond porosity, such as microconstituent material properties, as a means for understanding the aging-related degradation in strength and toughness, and the higher incidence of fractures, of cortical bone.

Summer Social: Kayaking

August 2023: SMBL takes to the river for round 2 of kayaking and paddling on the Charles!

Summer Social: Lab hike

Members from the Connizzo lab joined the SMBL for a hike up Mount Moosilauke in June 2023. Thank you to the Dartmouth conservators for all the great work in conserving the land and edifying visitors like us!

Conference: SB3C

SB3C June 2023 Presentations

Neilesh Frings et al. “Risk of Bony Endplate Failure During Vertebral Fracture.” 2023.

Tim Josephson et al. “Multiscale Mechanobiologically Optimized Scaffold Designs for Bone Tissue Engineering.” 2023.

May 2023 Graduation

Congratulations to Josh Auger for successfully graduating and for his outstanding defense of his thesis titled “Quantitative Assessment and Mechanical Implications of Bone Density and Microstructure in Hip Osteoarthritis.” 

Winter 2023 Socials: Go-karting and Mini Golf

Conference: ORS

ORS February 2023

A. Gutierrez Marty et al. “Aging-related mechanical degradation of cortical bone is driven by microstructural changes in addition to porosity.

2022 Graduation

Congratulations to Qiao Wu, with her thesis titled “Study of Deformation and Failure Mechanisms in the Human Vertebra” and Aldair Góngora, with his thesis “Accelerating Mechanical Design Using Autonomous Experimentation” (which also won PhD Dissertation Award) on their exemplary work leading up to graduation from the College.