Session: Rising Stars of Mechanical Engineering Celebration & Showcase

Paper Number: 148242

148242 - Lucy T. Zhang 

Joints are junctions between two or more bones, which allow the body to move, for example, walking or jumping. The ends of bones are covered with cartilage, a cushion that helps reduce friction between bones. Synovial fluid is the natural lubricant of joints that also reduces friction. Combined, cartilage and synovial fluid maintain healthy joints thanks to the lubricating molecules that stick to the surface of the cartilage. However, when the cartilage gets damaged, it leads to diseases such as arthritis, causing pain. This award supports fundamental research to provide needed knowledge to understand how the surface of articular cartilage direct what and how lubricating molecules stick to it, controlling friction. Results from this research will help identify molecular strategies to treat arthritis, a significant debilitating disease that affects millions of people in the U.S. alone. This research combines several disciplines, including biophysics, polymer physics, surface chemistry, biology, and tribology. Furthermore, this award supports the inclusion and training of underrepresented groups in biomaterials and mechanobiology-relevant research.

Presenting Author: Roberto Andresen Eguiluz University of California Merced

Presenting Author Biography: Roberto has been an Assistant Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California Merced since July 2019. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University, and had postdoctoral appointments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Authors:

Roberto Andresen Eguiluz University of California Merced