We welcome Dr. Robert Mauck as the next speaker in our series. Dr. Mauk is the Mary Black Ralston Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fibrous Cell and Tissue Tension Driving Phenotype and Directing Therapeutics

Research: Our research program is physically located in the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania and within the Translational Musculoskeletal Research Center at the Philadelphia VA Medial Center. Our group focuses on the engineering and mechanobiology of musculoskeletal tissues, with a particular interest in restoring articular cartilage, the knee meniscus, and the intervertebral disc. For this, we develop and use rigorous mechanical and molecular analyses to characterize native tissue structure and function, and then employ this information to enhance the functional properties of engineered constructs through focused technology development. This work employs adult mesenchymal stem cells, custom mechanobiologic culture conditions, and the development of novel cell scaffolding technologies. Our work also explores progenitor cell function, differentiation, and efficacy across multiple length scales, from investigations of subcellular biophysical properties, heterogeneity, and mechanobiology through to translation of stem cell-based engineered constructs in large animal models of tissue repair and regeneration. Research team members work both within and across these domains to advance musculoskeletal tissue regeneration.

Bio: Dr. Robert Mauck is the Mary Black Ralston Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the Director of the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory and the Biomechanics Core of the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders. Dr. Mauck co-directs the Program in Musculoskeletal Regeneration in the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Mauck is also a Research Health Scientist at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, and co-Director of the Translational Musculoskeletal Research Center (TMRC) at the VA. Dr. Mauck obtained his undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University (1998), and completed his PhD at Columbia in the Cellular Engineering and Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratories under the direction of Dr. Clark Hung and Dr. Gerard Ateshian (2003). After postdoctoral studies (2003-2005) at the National Institutes of Health with Dr. Rocky Tuan, Dr. Mauck moved to the University of Pennsylvania where he has since developed a new research program in the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory. His group focuses on the engineering of musculoskeletal tissues, with a particular interest in restoring articular cartilage, the knee meniscus, and the intervertebral disc. Dr. Mauck’s team uses rigorous mechanical and molecular analyses to characterize native tissue structure and function and employs this information to enhance the functional properties of engineered constructs through focused technology development. Specifically, this work employs adult mesenchymal stem cells, custom mechanobiologic culture conditions, and novel cell scaffolding technologies, and spans in vitro systems to large animal models. This work is supported with funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as several private foundations. Dr. Mauck is a member of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), and the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS), and has published more than 190 manuscripts in the field of orthopaedic tissue engineering and mechanobiology.