We virtually attended The Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference (SB3C) this week and had a great time. Both Ethan and Panth were finalists in the PhD and BS level paper competitions!! This was our first time attending SB3C and we are looking forward to coming back for many years to come!! 

We had a lab BBQ hosted by Ethan and Mary to celebrate the end of the semester and Madison and Panth's graduation! We are sad to see them go, but excited to see what they get up to in the future. Madison is going to Vanderbilt University to do her PhD and Panth is entering Med. School here at VCU!

Congratulations to Madison Bates for receiving the 2021 Gerald E. Miller Award for Excellence in the BME Undergraduate Program.  The Miller Award is awarded to undergraduates that demonstrate impressive academic accomplishments, research achievements, and dedicated service to the BME program and community! Well done Madison!!!

Congratulations to undergrad Saagar Sheth for being awarded a Undergraduate Fellowship from the VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR) for his work investigating cell localization and differentiation in ligament-to-bone enthesis engineering.  Using a novel culture system we have previously shown to drive zonal enthesis tissue formation, Saagar is investigating whether ligament fibroblasts seeded into out culture system localize to specific zones of the enthesis, or whether the tensile-compressive culture environment drives their differentiation. Congrats Saagar!!

Congratulations to Saagar for being awarded a VCU Undergraduate Fellowship for Clinical and Translational Research, one of the most competitive institutional awards for undergraduate research and scholarship at VCU. His work will be investigating whether cells differentiate or localize to specific zones of Engineered Ligament-to-bone replacements. 

We are excited to announce we received an Alliance for Regenerative Rehabilitation Research and Training (AR3T) Pilot Grant entitled "Driving Zonal Stem Cell Differentiation with Developmental Mechanical Cues for Ligament-to-bone Enthesis Regeneration." This work will explore how mechanical loads, similar to those experienced during development, drive stem cells to form strong attachments to bone. This work will help to create functional ACL replacements, as well as help to shed light on way to improve ACL graft repair integration.

You can read more about it here or here

Congratulations to Panth Doshi and Madison Bates who both won Best Presentation at the VCU Undergraduate Research Symposium today!! They both did a great job presenting their work and answering questions.

We are keeping spirits high and research rolling even with social distancing! Officially hitting Brady Bunch status on Zoom meant it was time for a new Lab picture.