FRACTURE AND FATIGUE OF SKELETAL TISSUES LABORATORY
F² LAB
Our Mission
Our goals are directed toward investigating the mechanisms of deformation, fracture, and the biological responses in biological materials at multiple length scales (from molecular to macroscales). Our work aims at bridging the gap between mechanics of materials, biology, and experimental high-energy x-ray physics to understand skeletal biology and disease as well as design principles behind biomaterials.
As part of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at the University of California San Diego, the Fracture and Fatigue of Skeletal Tissues Laboratory is directed by Dr. Claire Acevedo.
The Fracture and Fatigue of Skeletal Tissues Lab’s research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Advanced Light Source, the University of Utah Center on Aging, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health.
Sponsors
Graduate milestones
Congratulations to Dr. Michael Sieverts for graduating with his PhD in mechanical engineering! Mike spent 4 years working on innovating imaging techniques for both synchrotron radiation micro-CT and confocal laser scanning microscopy images to enhance our understanding of bone fragility diseases. He worked hard at every step, from the sample preparation stage to the machine learning and testing stages. Congrats!
Congratulations to Ihsan Elnunu for defending and graduating with his thesis Masters degree! Ihsan worked hard on locating, extracting, and testing osteon structures in bone. He also investigated the effects of cross-links on the mechanical properties of bone. Congrats!
Recent publications
New publication was accepted and published by James Rosenberg in PNAS Nexus. In this work, the effect of type 2 diabetes on mouse intervertebral disks is investigated using small-angle x-ray scattering.
Published paper in JOM with first author William Woolley was accepted for publication. His work examines the effect of type II diabetes in a rat model, specifically relating deficits in mechanical properties to microstructure.
Published paper in IEEE – eScience! Mike and Nikita use phase retrieval and neural networks to analyze both bone and adipose tissue using synchrotron micro-CT. (READ MORE)
Publication accepted in Communications Materials – Nature! Authored by Mike and Yoshi, this work highlights the use of deep learning for in situ synchrotron mechanical testing of bone (READ MORE)
Conference presentations
Yoshihiro Obata presented results from synchrotron micro-CT toughness testing and advancements in synchrotron techniques for in situ bone testing at SES 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota!
Dr. Acevedo was invited to give a talk at the Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting! At ORS, she spoke at a Research Interest Group about bone quality research with other key investigators in the field.
Congrats to James and William for their accepted abstracts at the Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting! They presented their work on the effects of diabetes in bone using novel mechanical testing and synchrotron techniques.
Michael Sieverts presented at IEEE eScience right here in SLC! There, he talked about a technique for analyzing multiple tissues in synchrotron micro-CT images.
William Woolley gave a thought-provoking talk at BONITOS in New York! He presented about the whole-bone mechanical properties of rat bone with type 2 diabetes as well as changes in their microstructure.
Awards in the F2 Lab
Michael Sieverts and Dr. Michael Bridge submitted a confocal image of canaliculi within bone for Nikon’s Small World competition. Their photo was nominated as an Image of Distinction and can be viewed here. Congrats!
Congrats Ihsan for receiving an Honorable Mention for his NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) application. This award is rewarded to extremely meritorious applicants of the fellowship program.
Alice L. Jee Award was awarded to Dr. Acevedo at the 2022 Orthopaedic Research Society Musculoskeletal Biology Workshop. Dr. Acevedo presented the F² Lab’s recent work on the effect of diabetes on bone material properties and microstructure. Congrats!
NIH R21 Grant Awarded to Dr. Acevedo! The National Institutes of Health Exploratory/Developmental R21 grant was awarded to Dr. Acevedo to research the mechanisms of increased fracture risk in diabetic bone at the collagen molecular level. (READ MORE)
NSF CAREER grant awarded to Dr. Acevedo! The National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award is a prestigious 5-year award offering 5 years of funding for early-career faculty. Congrats! (READ MORE)