Abstract: This seminar will focus on multi-scale structure-based modeling of fiber reinforced tissues and the intervertebral disc joint. The models discussed are developed using tissue composition information to guide constitutive model parameter selection. After thorough model validation using experimental data at a higher scale, the model is used to predict potential damage accumulation due to complex loading and to study the impact of disease on intradiscal deformations. 

Bio: Grace O’Connell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the co-director of the Berkeley Biomechanics Laboratory, and her research interests are in soft tissue mechanobiology and tissue engineering. O’Connell received her PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, where her research focused on intervertebral disc biomechanics with age, degeneration, and injury. O’Connell’s research group employs computational modeling and experimental approaches to study the effect of aging and disease on tissue- and joint-level mechanobiology. She has received many awards including the 2019 YC Fung Young Investigator Award and NSF CAREER Award, and was inducted into the AIMBE College of Fellows in 2021. She is also the Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence for the College of Engineering.

~BME Faculty Host: Dr. Craig Goergen~