“Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”
-Mattie J.T. Stepanek
Principal Investigator
Spencer Lake, PhD
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
- Phone: 314-935-3161
- Email: lake.s@nospam.wustl.edu
Spencer’s office is located in Jubel Hall 303H.
Multiscale structure-function relationships of musculoskeletal soft tissues and joints. Visit official WashU page here.
Staff
Ryan Castile
Lab Manager of the Musculoskeletal Soft Tissue Laboratory
- Phone: 314-935-6870
- Email: castiler@nospam.wustl.edu
Ryan’s work focuses on assisting all lab members’ research covering a wide variety of topics in soft tissue biomechanics.
Graduate Students
Shawn Pavey
PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
- Phone: 314-935-6870
- Email: shawn.pavey@nospam.wustl.edu
Shawn studies the mechanical role of the elastin protein in functionally distinct tendons using genetic mouse models. Though collagen is the main structural protein in tendons, elastin has still been shown to affect stiffness in the Achilles tendon. Shawn is currently investigating whether elastin might also mitigate damage accumulation during cyclic loading through mechanical and mechanobiological contributions. He’s using and developing a variety of tools for this investigation, including mechanical testing, computation, imaging, explants, and various biochemical assays.
Becky Reals
PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
- Phone: 314-935-6870
- Email: r.reals@nospam.wustl.edu
Becky studies post-traumatic joint contracture in the elbow, a condition in which patients experience stiffness and a reduced range of motion in the affected joint after a fracture or dislocation. Using a rat model, she is working to develop improved physical and biological treatment strategies that interrupt the underlying mechanism that causes the disease. The efficacy of these treatments are then assessed using a wide variety of techniques such as MRI, histology, grip strength, gait analysis, immunostaining, and flow cytometry.
Undergraduate Students
Alexander Gadin
Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
- Phone: 314935-6870
- Email: a.gadin@nospam.wustl.edu
Katie Auyeung
Undergraduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
- Phone: 314-935-6870
- Email: auyeung@nospam.wustl.edu
Sophia Miller
Undergraduate Student, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
- Phone: 314-935-6870
- Email: miller.s.d@nospam.wustl.edu
Alumni
Leanne Iannucci
PhD, Biomedical Engineering
- Phone: 314-935-6870
- Email: l.iannucci@nospam.wustl.edu
Reflectance Quantitative Polarized Light Imaging (rQPLI) for Microstructural Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Soft Tissues
Charles Dranoff
Masters Student, Biomedical Engineering
- Phone: 314-935-6870
- Email: c.dranoff@nospam.wustl.edu
Jeremy Eekhoff, PhD
PhD, Biomedical Engineering
2016-2021
Defining the Role of Elastic Fibers in Tendon Mechanics
Alex Reiter, PhD
PhD, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
2016-2021
Post-traumatic Elbow Contracture Characterization and Physical Therapy-based Treatment Strategies in a Preclinical Model
Chelsey Dunham, PhD
PhD, Biomedical Engineering
2014-2020
The Mechanobiology of Elbow Contracture: Pathogenesis and Prevention
Griffin Kivitz, MS
MS, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science
- Email: gkivitz@nospam.wustl.edu
Design and Validation of a Dynamic Pressure-Based Loading Device and 3D Strain
Tracking Protocol for Ventral Hernia Modeling
Nate King, PhD
PhD, Biomedical Engineering
- Email: nking.wustl@nospam.gmail.com
2017-2019
Biomedical Applications of Polarimetry
Ali Dunbar, MS
Masters Student, Biomedical Engineering
- Email: adunbar@nospam.wustl.edu
2017-2018
Design and Preliminary Testing of an Improved Abdomen Testing Device for use in Hernia Repair Modeling
Fei Fang, PhD
PhD, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Ethan Riak – Engineering Undergraduate 2023
Carson Hoopes – *Senior* BYU Summer Undergraduate 2023
Alice Hu – MEMS Undergraduate 2023
Evan Bradley – Biology Undergraduate 2021-23
Arun Movva – Biology Undergraduate 2021-23
Matthew Riak – Engineering Undergraduate 2021-22
Liam McGourty – Engineering Undergraduate 2021-22
Maggie Yang – BME Undergraduate 2022
Riku Saito – Visiting Scholar from Japan 2022
Charles Dranoff – BME Master’s Student 2021-22
Zane Alfinger – Engineering Undergraduate 2022
Gustavo De Paiva – MEMS Undergraduate 2021-22
Bianca Lang – Engineering Undergraduate 2021
Lila Dickstein – Engineering Undergraduate 2021
Ali Bacon – Engineering Undergraduate 2020-21
Shikha Shah – BME Undergraduate 2020-22
Gaby Ulloa – WUSEF Undergraduate – 2021
Hayden Schott – BME Undergraduate 2019-21
Bryce Maxwell – BME Undergraduate 2019-21
Lorenzo Solon – Biology Undergraduate 2019-21
Vaishali Shah – MEMS Undergraduate 2019-20
Andre Coello – BME Graduate rotation – 2020
Emily Stranne – BME Undergraduate 2019-20
Ethan Meitz – BME Undergraduate 2019-20
Jimmy Abraham – MEMS Undergraduate 2018-20
Isha Shah – MEMS Undergraduate – 2019
Brendan Otani – WUSEF Undergraduate – 2019
Sara McCutcheon – BME Undergraduate – 2017-9
Zoe Orenstein – BME Undergraduate – 2018-9
Zachary Bram – MEMS Masters Student – 2017-8
Griffin Kivitz – MEMS Undergraduate – 2017-8
Grant Owen – Mathematics Undergraduate – 2018
Mollie Seidner – BME Undergraduate – 2018
Nicole Migotsky – BME Graduate Rotation – 2017
Matt Jenkins – MEMS Undergraduate – 2017
Fei Fang, PhD – MEMS PhD Student – 2012-7
Pete Andres – BME Undergraduate – 2016-7
Rahool Bhimani – Biology Undergraduate – 2015-7
Wilson Roen – MEMS Undergraduate – 2016
S. Alex Lee – MEMS Undegraduate – 2016
Anchal Bansal Medical Student – 2015-6
Alex Wirtz – MEMS Undergraduate – 2016
Anna Bailes – BME Undergraduate – 2015-6
Maddie Roen – BME Undergraduate – 2014-6
Austin Middleton – EECE Undergraduate – 2015
Lindsey Kahan – BME Undergraduate – 2013-5
Reid Schur – MEMS Undergraduate – 2015
Anthony Han – BME Undergraduate – 2015
Taylor Vitunic – MEMS Undergraduate – 2015
Gerard Cooney – Visiting PhD student – 2015
Ami Sawhney – BME Undergraduate – 2013-4
Wayne Chang – BME Undergraduate – 2014-5
Maggie Liu – BME Undergraduate – 2013-5
Jon Wright – Medical student – 2014-5
Christian Weber – BME Graduate rotation – 2015
Charlotte Guertler – MEMS Graduate rotation – 2014
Brandon Coates – BME Graduate rotation – 2014
Steve Evans – MEMS Undergraduate – 2014
Sichen Xiao – Computer Science Undergraduate – 2014
Adam Finck – MEMS Undergraduate – 2013-5
Nathan Skelley – Orthopaedic Surgery Resident – 2014
Gabriela Espinosa – BME Graduate rotation – 2014
Tyler Perez – BME Undergraduate – 2013-4
“Bob” Chen Bao – BME Undegraduate – 2013-4
Chris Walter – BME Graduate rotation – 2013
Qi Wu – BME Graduate rotation – 2013
David Fleming – Physics Undergraduate (Notre Dame) – 2013
Stephanie Borinsky – BME Undergraduate/Lab Tech – 2013
“William” Shiyao Yu – BME Undergraduate – 2013
Jodi Small – BME Undergraduate – 2013
“Jen” Xiaozhu Chen – BME Undergraduate – 2013
Ben Donaldson – MEMS Undergraduate – 2013
Honorary Lab Members
Skelly Ton
Long Standing Lab Member
Skelly works hard to bring people together through puns and adventures!