Willett Lab

Musculoskeletal Regenerative and Rehabilitation Engineering

A limiting factor in addressing unmet clinical needs in the musculoskeletal field has been that the musculoskeletal system is often studied and treated as independent tissues rather than functionally integrated units. Our overall research focuses on a systems integration approach to musculoskeletal disease and regenerative engineering by applying novel imaging and engineering approaches to mechanistic biology problems. Our current work has three main thrusts: (i) cell and biologic therapies for the healing of large bone and muscle defects, (ii) multi-scale mechanical regulation of bone regeneration, (iii) intra-articular therapeutic delivery for post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Combining backgrounds in mechanical engineering, vascular biology and musculoskeletal tissue regeneration, our research integrates mechanics principles and analytical tools with molecular biology techniques to uniquely address challenges of musculoskeletal disease and regeneration.