Welcome

Our lab develops research-based models to explain the structure and behavior of man-made and biological materials. The work with man-made materials aims at understanding why the properties of composites made with nano-sized particles differ from those made with micro-sized particles.

Our work with biological materials focuses on bone. One ongoing project aims to explain the underlying mechanism that causes osteoporotic bone to break. Using electromicroscopy, Professor Jasiuk has successfully characterized the physical structure of normal bone and osteoporotic bone at both the micro- and nanoscales. After finding no significant structural differences between normal and diseased bone at either scale, she has redirected her efforts to identify chemical and mechanical differences in these two bone types that might lead to the development of non-invasive techniques that can be used within a clinical setting to characterize and compare the chemical structure of normal and osteoporotic bone.