The NSF CAREER program is among the foundation’s most prestigious awards for early-career faculty members, recognizing those who demonstrate the potential to serve as academic leaders in both research and education.

Surowiec’s research focuses on matrix-bound water that is tightly associated with collagen in bone tissue and plays an important role in helping bones withstand everyday forces. While current clinical tools primarily estimate fracture risk by measuring bone mineral density, they often do not account for changes in the bone matrix that can affect mechanical performance.

“Our understanding of bone health has long centered on mineral density, but that’s only part of the story,” Surowiec said. “This project will help us understand when changes in matrix-bound water begin to weaken bone and how we can incorporate that information into better predictive models. Ultimately, we hope this work will improve our ability to identify fracture risk while training students to work at the intersection of imaging, biomechanics and artificial intelligence.”

The project will combine advanced magnetic resonance imaging, spectroscopy, experimental mechanics and artificial intelligence to identify how changes in matrix-bound water affect bone toughness during aging and reduced mechanical use. The team will then integrate those findings into multiscale computational models designed to more accurately predict where and when bone is likely to fail.

The research includes complementary studies in animal and human bone to establish spatial relationships between matrix composition and mechanical performance. Artificial intelligence methods will analyze water-sensitive imaging data to identify patterns that improve finite element models of bone failure. The models will be validated through mechanical testing and shared through an open imaging and modeling atlas to support future research.

In addition to advancing the science of bone mechanobiology, the CAREER award supports a new remote undergraduate research program that will provide students with hands-on experience in biomedical imaging, data analysis and computational modeling. The program is designed to broaden access to research for students who balance work, caregiving responsibilities or remote study.

By combining fundamental research with innovative educational opportunities, the project aims to deepen scientific understanding of bone health while preparing students with the interdisciplinary skills needed for careers in biomedical engineering and related fields.