OPEN RA POSITIONS AVAILABLE
in the areas of natural flexible armor, natural transparent armor, natural armor for kinetic, thermal, blast, and toxin protection, (applications from graduate students in other departments are welcome). Please send CV, academic transcipt, and statement of interest to Professor Ortiz (cortiz@mit.edu).
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Mission Statement The focus of the Ortiz research program is on structural or load-bearing biological materials, in particular musculoskeletal (internal to the body) and exoskeletal (extermal to the body) tissues. Such systems have developed hierarchical and heterogeneous composite structures over millions of years of evolution in order to sustain the mechanical loads experienced in their specific environment. For this reason, they have enjoyed a long and distinguished history in the literature of more than a century with an emphasis on macroscopic, continuum-level biomechanics. The Ortiz research group studies these fascinating materials using expertise in the field of “nanomechanics” including; the measurement and prediction of extremely small forces and displacements, the quantification of nanoscale spatially-varying mechanical properties, the identification of local constitutive laws, the formulation of molecular-level structure-property relationships, and the investigation of new mechanical phenomena existing at small length scales. Novel experimental and theoretical methods are employed (see Table below) involving increasing levels of complexity from individual molecules to biomimetic molecular assemblies to the matrix associated with single cells and, lastly, to the nanoscale properties of the in-tact tissue. The result, and ultimate objective of the Ortiz research program, is a fundamental, mechanistic-based understanding of tissue function, quality, and pathology. The scientific foundation being formed has relevance to both the medical and engineering fields. Nanotechnological methods applied to the field of musculoskeletal tissues and tissue engineering hold great promise for significant and rapid advancements towards tissue repair and/or replacement, improved treatments, and possibly even a cure for people afflicted with diseases such as osteoarthritis. In addition, the discovery of new nanoscale design principles and energy-dissipating mechanisms will enable the production of improved and increasingly advanced biologically-inspired structural engineering materials and protective defense technologies that exhibit "mechanical property amplification" - that is, dramatic improvements in mechanical properties (e.g. increases in strength and toughness) for a material relative to its constituents. Our work in musculoskeletal tissues focuses on articular cartilage, bone, and intervertebral disc. Our work in exoskeletal structures involves; natural flexible armor, transparent armor, armor for biochemical toxin resistance, kinetic attacks, thermal regulation, and blast dissipation. Model systems include armored fish, deep sea hydrothermal vent and antarctic molluscs, molluscs and echinoderms with articulating plate armor (e.g. chitons, C. atratus), the transparent exoskeletons of certain crustaceans and pteropods, etc.
Examples of Specific Current Research Interests Short Video of Professor Ortiz Selected Recent Papers · Biophysical Journal, 2008, 95, (10), 4862-4870. "Cartilage aggrecan can undergo self-adhesion." PDF |
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LATEST GROUP NEWS (*Archived News Here) 06/30/09 · Graduate student Juha Song, Postdoc Haimin Yao, Professors Christine Ortiz and Mary Boyce are filmed for the Popular Science Discovery Channel show "The Future of ....(Combat)," to air this Fall 2009. Click on photos below for higher resolution images.
06/30/09 · Christine Ortiz and Professor Mary Boyce visit and tour Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu, Hawaii during an NSF-CMMI grantees conference and handle a variety of species of sea urchins including the unique shield or helmet urchin, Colobocentrotus atratus. Click on photos below for higher resolution images.
05/11/09 · Congratulations to Ortiz Lab Ph.D. student Fei Liang, who was awarded the Chyn Duog Shiah Fellowhip for the academic year 2009-10. The fellowship will cover full tuition, student health insurance and 9-month stipend. Nice work!
02/24/09 · The Ortiz group was among the first applicants to be awarded funding for the inaugural 2008-2009 MISTI Global Seed Funds, on the topic "Nanotechnological Studies of Stem Cell-Based Engineered Tissues for Intervertebral Disc Regeneration." This research is in collaboration with Professor Alan Grodzinsky (MIT EECS-BE-MECHE) and Professor Dan Gazit (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel). Funds will be used to cover international travel to facilitate the collaborative project. MISTI will provide cultural preparation for participating students before their departure. Read the full MIT news article here. 02/05/09 · Christine Ortiz receives the MIT Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership award in recognition of service that reflects the late civil rights leader's ideals and vision. The award was presented to her by Chancellor Phillip Clay at a dinner on 02/04/09 at the MIT faculty club with the Committee on Race and Diversity. She was also acknowledged the following morning 02/05/09 by Chancellor Clay at the 35th Annual Martin Luther King Day Breakfast Celebration, held in Morss Hall of Walker Memorial. To read the MIT news article click here. 11/25/08 · Members of the Ortiz Group will give four presentations at The 55th Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, February 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. For a word document listing of the group's 2009 ORS presentations, click here.
11/23/08 · Christine Ortiz was named to the 2009 class of the Department of Defense National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellows (NSSEFF) for her grant, "Natural Armor: An Untapped Encyclopedia of Engineering Designs for Protective Defense Applications." The "NSSEFF provides grants to top-tier researchers from U.S. universities to conduct long-term, unclassified, basic research involving the most challenging technical issues facing the DoD." The grant includes 600K in direct funds for a period of 5 years. · A link to the MIT press release can be found here. · Read an article in Physics Today on the NSSEFF award program,"DOD launches genius awards."
09/02/08 · Members of the Ortiz research group will give 9 presentations at the Fall 2008 Materials Research Society Meeting. Check out the schedule here.
08/22/08 · Members of the Ortiz research group traveled to the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology in Washington D.C., met with researchers, viewed their mollusc, dinosaur, and ancient fish armor collections. See all photos here.
A few photos : (Left to right) Christine Ortiz holding ancient armored fish fossil, fractured and repaired shell, Dr. Jerry Harasewych showing draw of samples in mollusc archive, Postdoc Haimin Yao and graduate student Juha Song holding ancient fish armor fossil, Dr. Michael Brett Surman holding sample of Placoderm shoulder armor 07/29/08 · Read the new paper (PDF) by 2008 PhD alumni Ben Bruet and graduate student Juha Song published in the journal Nature Materials "Mechanical design principles of ancient fish armor," which will be featured on the cover (high resolution image here) of the September 2008 issue. This work was a collaboration with Professor Mary Boyce, Department Head in MIT Mechanical Engineering. See photos of our armored fish Polypterus senegalus (1) (2) (3) (4) - he is very cute! Also a high resolution photo of the macroscopic structure of the armor shown below (1) (These images require permission for use). |
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