Expert in enthesis development, healing, and mechanobiology: I am an established investigator with expertise in the development, mechanobiology, and healing of the enthesis fibrocartilage. I started my independent career as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2016 at the University of Delaware in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. In February 2020, I relocated my laboratory to Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan where I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories (ORL) in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. In this new position at Michigan Medicine, I have initiated collaborations with colleagues at Michigan Medicine and in the College of Engineering and have taken advantage of the many world-class resources available at this institution.

My research portfolio includes the development of pre-clinical and translational models to study the development, injury, and healing of the tendon enthesis. The work highlighted by published manuscripts, conference proceedings, and invited talks describes the breadth and depth of my expertise in tendon and enthesis development, mechano-adaptation, and healing. Additionally, this work includes new avenues or research studying the effects of FGF signaling, hypoxia, and HIF1 on progenitor cell behavior and extracellular matrix damage and deposition in the context of enthesis loading.

My laboratory has pioneered the use of optogenetics for in vivo muscle contractility to study growth and remodeling of musculoskeletal tissues, specifically focused on tendon, enthesis, and bone. The core competencies of my lab include in vivo transgenic mouse lines (e.g., Cre-lox) and rodent injury models; biomechanical testing; histomorphometry; and advanced imaging (e.g., micro-computed tomography). My laboratory is supported by funding from the NIH and NSF as well as Michigan-Israel Partnership.