The Purdue Musculoskeletal Biology and Mechanics Lab focuses on the response of musculoskeletal tissues to mechanical loading and physical challenge. Our interests in musculoskeletal mechanobiology span the understanding of mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli to load-induced changes in bone and tissue architecture and its effects on organ and whole-animal performance.

Our work integrates a number of different approaches across biology and engineering. We take a questions-based approach to science and are very involved in developing new in vivo and in vitro models and analytical tools to address our varied interests. Our present focus areas address the following questions:

• How does variance in adaptive skeletal plasticity impact our interpretation of skeletal evolution?

• How does the skeleton tell the difference between habitual and non-habitual loads?

• Can bone cell network architecture be used to characterize skeletal loading in extant and fossil taxa?

• How are mechanotransduction mechanisms in the skeleton affected by aging and what are the important cellular components affected by the aging process?

• What changes in bone tissue physiochemical and material properties occur during and following extreme exercise? Can these changes be detected with current technologies?

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