SarahCalve

  • Professor
  • Associate Chair, Personnel
  • Biomedical, Materials, Mechanics of Materials
Address

Office Location: ECES 140
Lab Location:ECES1B26

Associate Professor Sarah Calvewill beginherposition with 鶹ѰBoulder'sDepartment of Mechanical Engineering in January 2020.

Research Interests

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

The primary focus of Associate Professor Sarah Calve'sresearch is to develop techniques to visualizeextracellular matrix (ECM) architecture and quantify the combined effect ofchanges in local stiffness andcyclic loading on the material properties ofsoft tissues in the developing of the musculoskeletal system. Informationgathered from the characterization of the mechanics andcomposition ofassembling tissues will guide the design of more successful regenerativetherapies than those based on the tissues of the homeostatic adult. She and her research group areusing bio-orthogonal labeling based strategies to identify newly synthesizedECM proteins in the developing musculoskeletal system. To determine theorganization of these matrix components, theyare using confocal microscopy andnovel decellularization and clearing protocols to visualize the 3D architectureof the ECM in the developing mouse. In addition, theyestablished anew atomicforce microscopy based method to measure how these changes in compositioninfluence 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 andmechanics of the soft tissues of the musculoskeletal system (i.e.muscle, tendon, ligament,cartilage) to guide the design of therapies that can restore functionality todamaged tissues.

Select Publications

  • Xu, X., Li, Z., Cai, L., *Calve, S. and *Neu, C. (2016). “Mapping the nonreciprocal micromechanics of individual cells and the surrounding matrix within living tissues,” Scientific Reports, 6, 24272, DOI:10.1038/srep24272.
  • *Calve, S., Witten, A.J., Ocken, 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.
  • Leng, Y., Abdullah, A., Wendt, M.K. and *Calve, S. (2018) “Hyaluronic acid, CD44 and RHAMM regulate myoblast behavior during embryogenesis,” Matrix Biology, Special Issue on Hyaluronan Biology, DOI: .
  • Silva Garcia, J.M., Panitch, A.P. and *Calve, S. (2019) “Biomechanical control of skeletal muscle cell behavior using peptide-functionalized hyaluronic acid hydrogels,” Acta Biomaterialia, 84, 169 – 179.
  • Acuña, A., Sofronici, S.H., Goergen, C.J. and *Calve, S. (2019) “In situ characterization of native extracellular matrix deformation,” accepted for publication at Experimental Mechanics.

Select Awards

  • NIHDirector’s New Innovator Award (2017)
  • Rising Star JuniorFaculty Award, Biomedical Engineering Society’s Cellular and MolecularBioengineering Conference (2018)
  • NationalAcademy of Engineering, Japan – America Frontiers of Engineering SymposiumInvitee (2018)
  • “Spotlight on the Future” Invited Paper, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering (2018)
  • YoungFaculty Travel Award, American Association of Anatomists (top 5 reviewedabstract) (2018)
  • “Young Innovator Issue” Invited Paper, Cellular and MolecularBioengineering (2019)