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The Injury Biomechanics Lab, under the direction of Dr. Susan Margulies, utilizes an integrated biomechanics approach to understand the influence of mechanical factors on the structure and function of human tissues from the macroscopic to microscopic level, with an emphasis on the brain and lungs.

Our approach consists of experiments to measure cell and tissue function/structure under carefully controlled loading conditions (deformations or forces), complemented by computational and translational models that extend these experimental findings to a broad range of real-world environments. Work in the laboratory has yielded fundamental information about the mechanical properties of the brain and skull, in vivo deformations of the brain and lung, and the cellular response to deformations which accompany lung inflation.  Current work extends these studies to develop intervention and treatment strategies to reduce injury morbidity and improve outcomes.