Biomechanics and Mechanobiology

Focusing on mechanics at and across the molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels

microscope image of cells

Our biomechanics and mechanobiology research focuses upon mechanics at and across the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organ levels.

While biomechanics research largely involves determining, manipulating, and testing the forces and deformations experienced by biological tissues, tissue replacements, or their constitutive elements, mechanobiology studies how physical cues, such as applied forces or the stiffness of the environment around the cell, affect cell behavior.

Research efforts range from applications in orthopaedics, injury mechanics, biomaterial and tissue engineering design to those aimed at affecting disease states where mechanical perturbations in tissues are known to augment pathogenesis, such as cancer and atherosclerosis.

Collaborations in this area at Duke involve faculty from the Duke University Medical Center divisions of Cardiology, Hematology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ophthalmology, and Rheumatology, as well as faculty in the departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Mechanical Engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering and the departments of Biology and Cell Biology in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.

Associated Faculty

Cameron R. Bass Profile Photo
Cameron R. Bass Profile Photo

Cameron R. Bass

Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Louis Edwin DeFrate Profile Photo
Louis Edwin DeFrate Profile Photo

Louis Edwin DeFrate

Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Ken Gall Profile Photo
Ken Gall Profile Photo

Ken Gall

Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Brenton D. Hoffman Profile Photo
Brenton D. Hoffman Profile Photo

Brenton D. Hoffman

James L. and Elizabeth M. Vincent Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

David F. Katz Profile Photo
David F. Katz Profile Photo

David F. Katz

Nello L. Teer, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, in the Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School of Engineering

Jason F Luck Profile Photo
Jason F Luck Profile Photo

Jason F Luck

Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Samira Musah Profile Photo
Samira Musah Profile Photo

Samira Musah

Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering

Barry S. Myers Profile Photo
Barry S. Myers Profile Photo

Barry S. Myers

Coulter Program Director, Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Kathryn Radabaugh Nightingale Profile Photo
Kathryn Radabaugh Nightingale Profile Photo

Kathryn Radabaugh Nightingale

Director of Graduate Studies, Theo Pilkington Distinguished Professor of BME

Amanda Randles Profile Photo
Amanda Randles Profile Photo

Amanda Randles

Alfred Winborne and Victoria Stover Mordecai Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences

George A. Truskey Profile Photo
George A. Truskey Profile Photo

George A. Truskey

R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Shyni Varghese Profile Photo
Shyni Varghese Profile Photo

Shyni Varghese

Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Fan Yuan Profile Photo
Fan Yuan Profile Photo

Fan Yuan

Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Other Research Specialties

Explore additional specialty research areas in Duke BME and throughout the Pratt School of Engineering.