萨拉生小牛 headshot
Associate Professor • Biomedical, Materials, Mechanics of Materials
莎拉.calve@nhllivebetting.com

Office Location: 电子商务140
Lab Location: 电子商务1 b26

Associate Professor 萨拉生小牛 will begin her position with CU Boulder's Department of Mechanical 工程 in January 2020. 

研究 Interests

Mechanics of soft biological materials, musculoskeletal development and regeneration, extracellular matrix

The primary focus of Associate Professor 萨拉生小牛's research is to develop techniques to visualize extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture and quantify the combined effect of changes in local stiffness and cyclic loading on the material properties of soft tissues in the developing of the musculoskeletal system. Information gathered from the characterization of the mechanics and composition of assembling tissues will guide the design of more successful regenerative therapies than those based on the tissues of the homeostatic adult. She and her research group are using bio-orthogonal labeling based strategies to identify newly synthesized ECM proteins in the developing musculoskeletal system. To determine the organization of these matrix components, they are using confocal microscopy and novel decellularization and clearing protocols to visualize the 3D architecture of the ECM in the developing mouse. 除了, they established a new atomic force microscopy based method to measure how these changes in composition influence the mechanical properties of cells and ECM in the developing limb. 

Societal Impact

The long term goal of my laboratory is to fully characterize the composition, organization and mechanics of the soft tissues of the musculoskeletal system (i.e. 肌肉, 肌腱, 韧带, cartilage) to guide the design of therapies that can restore functionality to damaged tissues.

Select Publications

  •  徐,X.， Li, Z.蔡，L.， *小牛，S. *纽，C. (2016). “Mapping the nonreciprocal micromechanics of individual cells and the surrounding matrix within living tissues,” Scientific Reports, 6, 24272, DOI: 10.1038/srep24272.
  • *生小牛,年代.威滕，A.J.奥肯，A.R. and *Kinzer-Ursem, T. (2016). “Incorporation of non-canonical amino acids into the developing murine proteome,” Scientific Reports, 6, 32377, doi: 10.1038/srep32377.
  • 愣,Y., Abdullah, A.，温特，M.K. and *生小牛,年代. (2018) “Hyaluronic acid, CD44 and RHAMM regulate myoblast behavior during embryogenesis,” Matrix Biology, Special Issue on Hyaluronan Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.matbio.2018.08.008.
  • Silva Garcia, J.M.潘尼奇，A.P. and *生小牛,年代. (2019) “Biomechanical control of skeletal 肌肉 cell behavior using peptide-functionalized hyaluronic acid hydrogels,” Acta Biomaterialia, 84, 169 – 179.
  • Acuna,., Sofronici, S.H.C .戈尔根.J. and *生小牛,年代. (2019) “In situ characterization of native extracellular matrix deformation,” accepted for publication at Experimental Mechanics.

Select Awards

  • NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2017)
  • Rising Star Junior 教师 Award, Biomedical 工程 社会’s Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Conference (2018)
  • National Academy of 工程, Japan – America Frontiers of 工程 Symposium Invitee (2018)
  • “Spotlight on the Future” Invited Paper, Journal of Biomechanical 工程 (2018)
  • Young 教师 Travel Award, American Association of Anatomists (top 5 reviewed abstract) (2018)
  • “Young Innovator Issue” Invited Paper, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (2019)