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Our Students Receive Broad Exposure

Tissue Engineering

Gene Therapy

Biomechanics

Immunoengineering

Back Pain

Back pain is a leading cause of disability, which has a huge economic burden and causes great suffering to the patient.  Our lab is interested in applying engineering principles to understand the underlying mechanisms of back pain by investigating the interfaces between biomechanics, inflammation, and the peripheral nervous system.

Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering provides great promise for regenerating diseased tissue and restoring function to the spine.  Our lab focuses on developing tissue engineering strategies that promote functional tissue development in the pathological spine through biomechanical design inputs and immunomodulation in engineered tissues.

CRISPR Cell Engineering

Recent advances in genome engineering and gene regulation now facilitate highly specific control of endogenous gene expression in mammalian cells using CRISPR systems.  We apply these novel advancements to tissue engineering and gene therapy applications to treat back pain.

Our Research Interests

We are bringing together Bioengineers and Clinicians to better understand and treat back pain using tissue engineering and gene therapy

About Us

We are passionate about using bioengineering research to change how back pain patients are treated and improving health span for all.

We are always looking for other individuals who share this passion.  Please check out our lab openings page for current listings.

Check out our Team

  • Bioengineers

    We train and employ bioengineers with broad skill sets to help design novel therapeutics that must work in complex pathological environments.

  • Clinicians

    We work with clinicians directly within our lab to encourage clinically relevant innovation and provide a clinically immersive training environment for our students.

  • Interdisciplinary

    The complex nature of back pain requires that we innovate at the boundaries between biomechanics, tissue engineering, immunoengineering, and neurobiology.

  • Innovative

    There is a dire need for the development of novel therapeutics that target back pain.  We seek to develop novel treatment strategies using emerging technologies in the cell, tissue, and immunoengineering fields.