Pelvic Floor Research Group Day

Every year, the Michigan Medicine Pelvic Floor Research Group (PFRG) convenes investigators and staff for a day-long series of presentations and discussions, as well as a featured keynote address from an internationally-recognized pelvic floor research expert.

The first PFRG day was held in 2003 in a team member's backyard and with just a few dozen participants. Over the past two decades, attendance has grown to nearly 100 participants, and now includes a diverse, multidisciplinary group of researchers from around the world.

The 2023 Pelvic Floor Research Group Day will be held on Wednesday, February 22 (8 am – 4 pm)

Biomechanics of the Pregnant Cervix

Keynote Speaker: Kristin M. Meyers, PH.D.

Myers builds computational models of the pregnant anatomy to quantify the amount of mechanical loading on the soft tissue structures supporting the fetus. These models are based on rigorous mechanical tests of soft tissues conducted in her lab to establish the mathematical relationship between the tissue’s biological building blocks, its mechanical stiffness, and its remodeling behavior. Working with Maternal Fetal Medicine specialists at Columbia University Medical Center, the team is working to identify mechanical risk factors in pregnancy and to develop precise clinical interventions to eliminate those risks.

Recent projects from Myers’s research group include: ultrasound-based finite element models of pregnancy, mechanical characterization of cervical and uterine tissue remodeling, hormone-mediated tissue growth and remodeling, and mechanical characterization of preterm birth models of pregnancy

Myers received a BS in mechanical engineering in 2002 from the University of Michigan and an MS in 2005 and a PhD in 2008 in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She joined the faculty of Columbia Engineering in 2010 and in 2017 received the ASME Y.C. Fung Young Investigators Award. 

After a one-year hiatus, the Pelvic Floor Research Group held its annual PFRG Day meeting on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022 at the University of Michigan Rackham School of Graduate Studies. Along with a small group attending and presenting in person, there was a large virtual audience of researchers and presenters from as far away as Canada and Brazil.

Dr. Steven D. Abramowitch from the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering gave the keynote address, titled “Novel Insights and Approaches to Pelvic Floor Imaging from the University of Pittsburgh. Attendees participated in lively discussions and Q&A sessions about two busy, exciting, and successful years of pelvic floor research.