Dr. Trevor Lujan (Northwest Tissue Mechanics Laboratory) took three graduate students to this year’s Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference (SB3C) in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, June 25 – 28, 2019.
Bradley Henderson was selected as a finalist for his abstract titled “Mechanical Influence Of Graphitic Carbon Nitride Filler On Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Thin Film Hydrogels For Wound Healing”. As a finalist, he then gave a poster presentation at the conference for which he won 2nd place in the ASME – BS Level Musculoskeletal, Respiratory, Ocular and Other Systems category which consisted of about 16 finalists.
Katie Hollar presented a poster titled “Quantifying Distortion Energy in Collagen Matrices Subjected to Complex Loads Using a Biaxial Bioreactor”. Overall, she has been working on validating a novel method of subjecting 3D collagen constructs to differing magnitudes of distortion energy while maintaining targeted strain energy to understand cell behavior during tissue remodeling. This method can potentially advance effective therapies for soft tissue pathology, such as manual therapy, since it may identify the mechanical mechanisms that trigger cell repairing.
Derek Nesbitt also attended the conference as an observer as he prepares to submit materials for next year in the Ph.D. program.