The skeleton is a load bearing structure, like many common man-made structures. However, unlike metals and other inert materials, bone tissue is a living organ composed of cells in mineralized matrix. These cells create the tissue and enable the structure to respond to a variety of genetic and epigenetic factors. One of the primary epigenetic regulatory factors is the mechanical environment, the stresses and strains, to which the skeleton is subjected during daily activities.

Traditionally, biomechanics has focused on examining the material and structural properties of living tissues, both in their normal and diseased states. This approach is primarily one of mechanics and is relevant to understanding the load bearing ability of tissues. Dr. van der Meulen’s work in this area focuses on understanding the role of tissue mechanical behavior on skeletal structural performance, as well as the role of particular tissue constituents (growth factors and other matrix molecules) on whole bone function.

Recently, interest has refocused on the other role of mechanics: understanding how mechanical forces influence skeletal structure. This new area has been termed “mechanobiology” to emphasize the modulation of biological processes by mechanical stimuli. This area is of particular interest to Professor van der Meulen, and her laboratory works extensively on in vivo models of skeletal adaptation to mechanical stimuli and methods to assess this adaptation.

Before joining the faculty at Cornell, Marjolein van der Meulen worked as a biomedical engineer at the Rehabilitation R&D Center of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in Palo Alto, California. She joined the VA after completing her MS and PhD at Stanford University with Professor Dennis Carter and SB at MIT, all in mechanical engineering. As a graduate student she received a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program fellowship and conducted her experiments at NASA Ames Research Center with Dr. Emily Morey Holton. In 1995, Prof. van der Meulen received an NIH FIRST Award and in 1999 an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award. In 2008 she was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She has been awarded both College and Sibley School teaching awards. Prof. van der Meulen is a member of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the American and European Societies of Biomechanics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Orthopaedic Research Society. She currently serves as a Deputy Editor of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research and is a member of the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation peer review committee.