Contact: Prof. L.J. Bonassar lb244@cornell.edu

Phone: 255-9381

Office: 218 Upson Hall

Modeling of Cartilage Tissue Assembly

Tissue Engineering often involves the culture of cells on polymer scaffolds for extended periods of time outside of the body. With time, the cells that populate these scaffolds deposit new tissue within the polymer structure. While there is a considerable amount of experimental data documenting the changes in structure of these growing tissues with time, the theoretical framework in which these data are understood is still minimal. The goals of this project involve developing a model of the way in which cartilage cells make new tissue components and how these components assemble outside of the cell.

In prior work we have validated a model for macroscopic tissue assembly in which cartilage cells regulate their metabolic output based on the presence of existing tissue components. The current project involves the application of this model to the cellular scale. This model of metabolic activity will be combined with modeling of diffusive and convective transport of tissue components their binding with other tissue components. These models will be validated by comparing predictions to published data from the literature.

Students interested in this project should have a strong background in fluids and transport, experience in programming, and familiarity with FLUENT or other fluids/transport related finite element packages. Tasks for this project include theoretical formulation of a diffusion-reaction model with a feedback source and coding, implementation, and validation of these models based on experimental data.