Session: Rising Stars of Mechanical Engineering Celebration & Showcase

Paper Number: 148255

148255 - Mechanics of Biological Motor Control: Assembly, Maturation, and Repair at the Neuromuscular Interface 

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant is focused on advancing fundamental understanding of the tissues that produce voluntary movement in humans and other biological creatures. These tissues, termed the biological motor control system, help humans navigate unpredictable and dynamic environments by controlling the actuation of skeletal muscle with motor neurons. Health, mobility, and quality-of-life can be severely impacted when disease or damage disrupts the function of skeletal muscle, or motor neurons, or the mechanical communication between these cells. There is thus a significant need to develop model systems that enable study of how mechanical signaling between skeletal muscle and motor neurons impacts performance. This project will conduct experiments that study how mechanical signals drive the assembly of healthy mature neuromuscular tissues through exercise, and how mechanical signaling can guide repair after damage. Developing the proposed model systems will be enabled by new biofabrication tools and protocols for building complex three-dimensional tissues from living cells. The research goals of this project are coupled to educational and outreach goals that promote hands-on training in biofabrication for students, with an emphasis on broadening access to experiential self-learning.

The specific goal of the research is to understand how exercise coordinates intercellular signaling at the neuromuscular interface in both physiological and pathological states. Uncovering the processes by which mechanically-mediated biochemical signaling coordinates assembly, maturation, and repair at the neuromuscular junction could enable application-driven research in both medicine and soft robotics. Engineered models of the biological motor control system could, for example, be used to enable high-throughput testing of new therapies that restore health and quality-of-life to patients in need. Fabricating contractile neuromuscular tissues could also enable deploying these systems as adaptive and efficient actuators in soft robots. This project will advance the knowledge base in mechanics and biology, establishing the foundations for next-generation biofabrication technologies.

Presenting Author: Ritu Raman MIT

Presenting Author Biography: Ritu Raman, PhD is the d’Arbeloff Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Her lab is centered on engineering adaptive living materials for applications in medicine and machines. Prof. Raman has received several recognitions for scientific innovation, including the NSF CAREER Award, the Army Research Office YIP Award, the Office of Naval Research YIP Award, and being named a Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences. She has also been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 and MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35 lists, and is the author of the MIT Press book Biofabrication. She is passionate about increasing diversity in STEM and has championed many initiatives to empower women in science, including being named a AAAS IF/THEN ambassador and founding the Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT (WISDM). Prof. Raman received her BS from Cornell University and her PhD as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She completed her postdoctoral research with Prof. Robert Langer at MIT, funded by a L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship and a Ford Foundation Fellowship from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Website: RamanLab.mit.edu | X: @DrRituRaman

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