News
July 2023
Jorge Presents His Summer Work!
Congrats to BE STARS student Jorge Rodriguez for winning the Naveen Jindal School of Management Award for his poster presentation at the Summer Platform for Undergraduate Research Symposium at UT Dallas! Jorge is a University of Arkansas student. This summer, he learned compression and micro-indentation experiments on the murine vagina. Jorge was mentored by Lily.
June 2023
Mari and Shelby Present at SB3C 2023 in Vail, CO
Congrats to Mari and Shelby, who both gave talks at SB3C this year!
May 2023
Congratulations, 2023 Tulane University Miller Lab Graduates!
Shelby White, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering
Mari Domingo, MS Biomedical Engineering
Elle Sullivan, BS Biomedical Engineering
April 2023
Shelby Defended Her Dissertation!
Congratulations to Dr. Shelby White for successfully defending her dissertation entitled: "Active and Passive Contributions to Vaginal Biomechanical Function with Reproductive Age, Elastic Fiber Disruption and Postpartum Remodeling." We are so proud of you!
New Ph.D. Candidate :)
Congratulations to our second-year student, Lily, for passing her qualifying exam!
February 2023
Gabby's Paper was Published in the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
Congratulations to Gabby on her recent publication on smooth muscle contribution to vaginal viscoelastic response! Check it out here: ScienceDirect
August 2022
We're moving to Texas!
Congratulations to Dr. Miller for accepting a new position as an Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas and within the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
https://engineering.utdallas.edu/pulsar/new-faculty/new-faculty-2022.html
July 2022
Shelby Presents at TERMIS-AM in Toronto, Canada
Shoutout to Shelby for representing us at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society meeting in Toronto! She gave a talk entitled: "Biomechanics of the Female Reproductive System."
June 2022
Miller Lab Presents at SB3C 2022 in Cambridge, MD
We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to share our work in person this year!
New Ph.D. Candidate!
Congratulations to our second-year student, Mari, for passing her qualifying exam!
May 2022
Congratulations, 2022 Miller Lab Graduates!
Gabrielle L. Clark Patterson, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering
Arya Monticino, MS Materials Science and Engineering
Matthew Comella, BS Biomedical Engineering
Preston Cremer, BS Biomedical Engineering
Shelby was awarded the Graduate Student Outstanding Achievement Award
Congratulations to Shelby for receiving the 2022 Graduate Student Outstanding Achievement Award in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Tulane University!
Fleur Femtech Won Novel Tech 2022
Congratulations to Shelby White, Arya Monticino, Jasmine Kiley, and Alexis LaRosa for winning Tulane's Novel Tech Challenge this year! They developed a home-use test to detect endometriosis. Read more about the challenge and the team in their feature in Tulane Today!
Shelby's Paper Published in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
Congrats to Shelby on her publication entitled "Biaxial Murine Vaginal Remodeling With Reproductive Aging" in collaboration with the Lindsey lab at Tulane University. Check out the article here!
Congratulations to Arya for successfully defending her Master's thesis!
March 2022
Review Article Accepted: "Biomechanics of Pregnancy and Vaginal Delivery"
Congrats to Gabby and Mari on their article acceptance entitled "Biomechanics of Pregnancy and Vaginal Delivery." This article will be featured in a special issue of Current Opinions in Biomedical Engineering, Futures of BME 2022: Bioengineering for Women's Health. Check out the full issue here!
Jasmine Named a 2022 Goldwater Scholar
Congratulations to sophomore Jasmine Kiley for being named a 2022 Goldwater Scholar!
January 2022
Matt and Preston Presented at the BME Senior Research & Design Conference
Congrats to seniors Matt and Preston for presenting their work at the Biomedical Engineering Senior Research & Design Conference! Matt presented his work entitled "Validating Tendon Mechanical Testing & Developing a Biaxial Mechanical Tendon Testing Design," and Preston presented "Verifying CellProfiler as a Reliable Histology Analysis Technique."
November 2021
Congratulations to Dr. Clark-Patterson for Successfully Defending her Dissertation!
Congratulations to Gabby for successfully defending her dissertation titled " Smooth Muscle Contribution to Murine Vaginal Mechanical Function and Potential Interactions with Elastic Fibers". We wish her the best of luck as she moves on to her new journey with the FDA!
October 2021
Gabby's Paper was Accepted for Publication in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
Congratulations to Gabrielle Clark-Patterson for manuscript acceptance for publication in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering titled "Investigation of Murine Vaginal Creep Response to Altered Mechanical Loads".
Gabby's Paper was Accepted for Publication in Scientific Reports
Congratulations to Gabrielle Clark-Patterson for manuscript acceptance for publication in Scientific Reports titled "Role of Fibulin-5 Insufficiency and Prolapse Progression on Murine Vaginal Biomechanical Function".
Shelby and Jasmine Presented at BMES 2021
Congratulations to Shelby White and Jasmine Kiley for presenting their work entitled "Passive Biaxial Mechanics of the Vagina with Maternal Age and Elastic Fiber Disruption" at BMES 2021 in Orlando, Florida!
July 2021
Dr. Miller and Co-Principal Investigators Received The NSF LEAP-Hi Award
Congratulations to Drs. Kristin Miller, Steven Abramowitch, Kristin Myers, and Raffaella De Vita for receiving the Leading Engineering for America's Prosperity, Health, and Infrastructure (LEAP HI) Award. The Coordinated Advances in Reproductive Engineering for Health Research (CARE4HeR) project will address the alarming healthcare challenges associated with pregnancy and childbirth by integrating novel and transformative approaches in experimental, theoretical, and computational mechanics.
May 2021
Congrats to Mary, Diego, and Jordan for successfully defending their thesis!
April 2021
Nicholas Pachos Received an NIH Award
Congratulations to collaborator Nicholas Pachos with BioAesthetic Inc. for receiving an NIH award for the project titled "Polymer-Strengthened AcellularBiologically-Derived Grafts for Pelvic Organ Prolapse". This project focuses on assessing the feasibility of an innovative product for use in POP corrective surgeries by first focusing on determining the mechanical strength of BioAesthetic's polymer-strengthened acellular biologic grafts, both pre-and post-implantation in a rodent model.
Congratulations to Dr. Conway for Successfully Defending her Dissertation!
Congratulations to Cassandra Conway for successfully defending her dissertation titled" Biaxial Contractility, Passive Biomechanics, and Murine Cervical Remodeling".
Gabby was awarded the BME Graduate Student Outstanding Achievement Award!
Congratulations to Gabby for receiving the 2021 Graduate Student Outstanding Achievement Award for Outstanding Accomplishments as a Graduate Student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, at Tulane University!
March 2021
Cassie's Paper was Accepted to Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Congratulations to Cassandra Conway for manuscript acceptance for publication in Annals of Biomedical Engineering's Special issue Advances in Engineering for Women's Health titled "The Role of Biaxial Loading on Smooth Muscle Contractility in the Nulliparous Murine Cervix".
Jasmine Received Grants for Summer Research
Congratulations to Jasmine Kiley for receiving the NTC Grant and the Newcomb Institute Summer Research Grants.
Katie and Team Designs a Tool to Help Healthcare Workers Screen for Cervix Cancer among Women in Rural Peru
Congratulations to Katie and the team for being selected as a semi-finalist in the 11th Annual Undergraduate Global Health Technologies Design Competition at Rice University.
January 2021
Dr. Miller Received the Y.C. Fung Early Career Award
Congratulations to Dr. Miller for receiving the 2021 Y.C. Fung Early Career Award. This recognized Dr. Miller as a young investigator committed to pursuing research in the field of Bioengineering, demonstrating significant potential to make substantial contributions to the field.
July 2020
Dr. Miller Recieved Funding from the National Institutes of Health for COVID Research
Dr. Miller received the National Institutes of Health to develop a predictive model of COVID-19 progression in older patients.
May 2020
Congrats to Rachel, Ricky, and Isabella for successfully defending their thesis!
March 2020
Elvis' Paper was Accepted to Scientific Reports
Congratulations to Elvis Danso for manuscript acceptance for publication in Scientific Reports titled "Comparison of Biaxial Biomechanical Properties of Post-menopausal Human Prolapsed and Non-prolapsed Uterosacral Ligament".
January 2020
Dr. Miller received the National Science Foundation Award to investigate elastic fiber regeneration potential during postpartum healing!
September 2019
Bioengineering in women's health special issue
Royal Society Publishing has recently published a special issue of Interface Focus entitled Bioengineering in women's health, Volume 1: female health and pathology and Volume 2: pregnancy—from implantation to parturition.
Both issues are organised by Kristin Miller, Kristin Myers and Michelle Oyen and the articles for both issues can be accessed directly at https://royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rsfs/9/4 and https://royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rsfs/9/5.
A print version is also available at the special price of £35.00 per issue from publishing@royalsociety.org.
November 2018
Dr. Miller gave seminars at Michigan State
Dr. Miller gave a seminar presentation to the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Reproductive and Developmental Science Program at Michigan State University.
October 2018
Dan's Paper was Accepted to the Journal of Biomechanics
Congratulations to Daniel Capone for manuscript acceptance for publication in "Journal of Biomechanics" titled "Residual Strain in the Female Murine Reproductive System".
AK's Paper was Accepted to the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
Congratulations to Akinjide "AK" Akintunde for manuscript acceptance for publication in "Journal of Biomechanical Engineering" titled "Effects of elastase digestion on the murine vaginal wall biaxial mechanical response".
Dr. Miller gave a seminar at WashU
Dr. Miller gave a seminar presentation to the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science at Washington University in St. Louis.
Elvis Abstract Received an Oral Presentation at Society of Pelvic Research Meeting
Elvis' abstract titled " Characterization of the Biaxial Biomechanical Properties of Human Post-Menopausal Prolapsed and Non-prolapsed Uterosacral Ligament" was accepted for an oral presentation at the 2018 Society for Pelvic Research (SPR) annual meeting in New Orleans.
Gabby's Abstract Accepted to Society of Pelvic Research Meeting
Gabby's abstract titled "Effect of Parity on Murine Vaginal Wall Elastic Fiber Structure and Mechanical Function" was accepted for poster presentation at the 2018 Society for Pelvic Research (SPR) annual meeting in New Orleans .
AK's Abstract Accepted to Society of Pelvic Research Meeting
AK's abstract titled "Effects of elastase digestion on the murine vaginal wall biaxial mechanical response" was accepted for poster presentation at the 2018 Society for Pelvic Research (SPR) annual meeting in New Orleans .
September 2018
Gabby's Abstract was accepted for the NSF PhD Poster Competition at IMECE
Gabrielle's abstract, Role of Circumferential and Longitudinal Smooth Muscle in Murine Vaginal Tissue, has been accepted for NSF PhD Poster competition at International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition 2018.
August 2018
Lab Day at the Aquarium
BG&R lab members bonded at the New Orleans Aquarium, kicking off the Fall semester!
July 2018
Jason Received an Oral Presentation at AUGS PFD Week
Jason's abstract, Biaxial Mechanical Properties of Human Post-Menopausal Prolapsed Uterosacral Ligament Insertion, has been accepted for an oral presentation at PFD Week 2018 to be held October 9-13, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
Congrats to Dr. Lindsey and Lab for Review Article Acceptance
Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Lindsey's Lab for review article acceptance titled "New Insights into Arterial Stiffness: Does Sex Matter? ".
Dr. Harville and Collaborators Paper was Accepted
Congratulations to Dr. Harville and the team for manuscript acceptance for publication titled "Cervical Pathways for Racial Disparities in Preterm Birth: The Preterm Prediction Study".
June 2018
Jason Received a Presentation at AUGS PFD Week
Jason's abstract, Biaxial Mechanical Properties of Human Post-Menopausal Prolapsed Uterosacral Ligament Insertion, has been accepted for a saloon presentation at PFD Week 2018 to be held October 9-13, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
Gabby Received a Presentation at AUGS PFD Week
Gabrielle's abstract, Biaxial Contractile Response of Murine Vaginal Smooth Muscle, has been accepted for a short oral presentation at PFD Week 2018 to be held October 9-13, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
May 2018
Gabby Received a Presentation for the Society of Engineering Science
Gabrielle's abstract entitled: Contribution of Basal Smooth Muscle Tone to Biaxial Mechanical Response and Remodeling of the Murine Vagina has been accepted as an Oral presentation at the SES 2018 Conference to be held in Madrid, Spain 10-12 October, 2018.
Jason Received a Presentation for the World Congress of Biomechanics
Jason's abstract "Mechanical properties of human post-menopause prolapsed uterosacral ligament insertion" has been accepted for a poster presentation at the World Congress of Biomechanics.
Gabby Received a Talk for the World Congress of Biomechanics
Gabrielle's abstract "Smooth Muscle Basal Contribution to Biaxial Mechanical Response of the Murine Vagina" has been accepted for an oral presentation at the World Congress of Biomechanics.
AK Received an Invited Talk for World Congress of Biomechanics
Akinjide "AK" Akintunde abstract "Effects of elastase digestion on vaginal wall biaxial mechanical response’" received an invited talk for World Congress of Biomechanics as part of the Tendon, ligament and enthesis biomechanics 1 session.
AK Received a Talk for World Congress of Biomechanics
Akinjide "AK" Akintunde's abstract "Towards the Development of a Growth and Remodeling Model for Tendon Aging and Healing" has been accepted for an oral presentation at the World Congress of Biomechanics as part of the Tendon, ligament and enthesis biomechanics 1 session.
April 2018
AK was awarded the Graduate Student Outstanding Achievement Award!
Congratulations to Akinjide "AK" Akintunde for receiving the 2018 Graduate Student Outstanding Achievement Award for Outstanding Accomplishments as a Graduate Student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University
February 2018
Jason Received the BIRCWH Award
Congratulations to Jason for receiving the Award for Research in Women’s Health and Sex Differences in Cardiovascular and Related Diseases sponsored by the Tulane BIRCWH Program at Tulane Health Science Research Days.
Dr. Kristin S. Miller Received NSF's Early Faculty CAREER Development Award
The National Science Foundation awarded Dr. Kristin S. Miller the Early Faculty CAREER Development Award to support the project entitled " Determining the Dynamic Role of Elastic Fibers in Cervovaginal Adaptations". (Award Abstract #1751050 )
December 2017
AK received an invited talk U.S. National Congress for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
Akinjide "AK" Akintunde abstract "Towards the Development of a Growth and Remodeling Model for Tendon Aging and Healing" has been accepted for presentation at the 18th U.S. National Congress for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, to be held in Chicago, Illinois, June 4-9, 2018.
November 2017
AK's Paper was Accepted to Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology
Congratulations to Akinjide "AK" Akintunde for manuscript acceptance for publication in "Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology" titled "Evaluation of Microstructurally-Motivated Constitutive Models to Describe Age-Dependent Tendon Healing".
July 2017
Katy's Paper was Accepted to Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
Congratulations to Katy Robison! Her paper titled" Biaxial Mechanical Assessment of the Murine Vaginal Wall Using Extension- Inflation Testing" was accepted to the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.
Gabby Was Featured in Tulane New Wave
Congratulation to Gabrielle Clark! InFocus: Dynamic Duo | By Paula Burch-Celentano for New Wave: Tulane News
June 2017
Cassie, AK, and Cody Presented at SB3C
Congratulation to Cassandra Conway and Akinjide Akintunde for their podium presentations and Cody O'Cain for his poster presentation at the Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference.
April 2017
Erin Blake Received Summer Research Funding
Congratulations to Erin Blake for receiving the Newcomb College Institute Summer Internship Funding Support and Lurcy Grant!
Claire Received Summer Research Grant
Congratulations to Claire Sentilles! She received an Honors Summer Research Grant for the summer of 2017.
Taylor McCrady Successfully Defended Her Masters Thesis
Congratulations to Taylor McCrady for successfully defending her Master's Thesis, titled "Role of Elastin in Vaginal Wall Biaxial Mechanical Response with Experimental and Mathematical Approaches". We wish her well in California as a Process Development Engineer at Applied Medical
Katy Robison Successfully Defended Her Masters Thesis
Congratulations to Katy Robison for successfully defending her Master's Thesis, titled "Role of Elastin in Vaginal Wall Biaxial Mechanical Response with Experimental and Mathematical Approaches" . She will be moving to Boston, MA to work with an Engineering Development Group at MathWorks as an Application Support Engineer.
Jonathan Successfully Defended His Masters Thesis
Congratulations to Jonathan Nguyen for successfully defending his Master's Thesis, titled "Design, Construction, and Validation of a Planar Biaxial Device for Mechanical Testing of Soft Tissues". Wishing you the best with all of your future endeavors.
January 2017
Katy and AK Abstract was Accepted for CMBEC
January 2017: Katy Robison and Akinjide "AK" Akintunde's abstract, titled "Towards a Microstructurally-Motivated Model of the Murine Vaginal Wall," was accepted to the Computational and Mathematical Biomedical Engineering Conference.
December 2016
Cassie Gives Poster Presentation at SRI
Cassandra Conway was accepted to the Society of Reproductive Investigation Conference in Orlando, FL. She will present a poster, titled "Biaxial Mechanical Properties of the Murine Uterus and Cervix," on Thursday, March 16th.
August 2016
AK Gives Poster Presentation at Gordon Research Seminar
Akinjide "AK" Akintunde will give a poster presentation at the 2016 Musculoskeletal Biology and Bioengineering Gordon Research Seminar on August 6th and 7th.
July 2016
Taylor Was Featured in Tulane New Wave
Congratulations to Taylor McCrady! She was featured in a Tulane New Wave article for the work she is doing for her internship at LaCell, LLC.
June 2016
Katy Gives Podium Presentation at SB3C
Katy Robison will give a podium presentation at the 2016 Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference on Thursday, June 30 from 4:00-4:15 PM. Her presentation is entitled "Effect of Elastin Digestion on the Biaxial Mechanical Response of the Murine Vagina."
Cassie Gives Poster Presentation at SB3C
Cassandra Conway will give a poster presentation at the 2016 Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference on Friday, July 1 from 1:00-3:15 PM. Her poster is entitled "Determining the Effect of Elastin Digestion on the Regional Biaxial Mechanical Properties of the Murine Cervix."
May 2016
Katy Received Conference Grant
Congratulations to Katy Robison! She received the Newcomb College Institute Conference Presentation/Attendance Grant.
Sarah Received CELT Fund
Congratulations to Sarah Holt! She received the CELT Fund for Faculty/Student Scholarly and Artistic Engagement.
Cassie Received Travel Award
Congratulations to Cassandra Conway! She received the GSSA travel award.
Madison Received Summer Research Funding
Congratulations to Madison VanOsdoll! She received funding through the Honors Summer Research Program.
April 2016
Katy Won the Joyous and William C. Van Buskirk Scholarship
Congratulations to Katy Robison! She won the Joyous and William C. Van Buskirk Scholarship for Excellence in Biomedical Engineering.
Jonathan and Victoria Won the Kenneth H. Kuhn, Sr. Memorial Award
Congratulations to Jonathan Nguyen and Victoria Morris! Their senior design team won the Kenneth H. Kuhn, Sr. Memorial Award from the Tulane Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Miller Recent Submission was Published
Congratulations to Dr. Miller! Her recent submission, entitled "G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor Activation Ameliorates Aortic Remodeling Induced By Salt-Sensitive Hypertension," was published to the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Katy Won 1st Place at Tulane's Poster Competition
Congratulations to Katy Robison! Her poster, entitled "Effect of Elastin Digestion on the Biaxial Mechanical Response of the Murine Vagina," won 1st place at the Tulane Science and Engineering Poster Competition.
March 2016
Katy's Abstract Accepted to SB3C
Congratulations to Katy Robison! Her abstract, entitled "Effect of Elastin Digestion on the Biaxial Mechanical Response of the Murine Vagina," was accepted for a podium presentation at the 2016 Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference.
Cassie's Abstract Accepted to SB3C
Congratulations to Cassandra Conway! Her abstract, entitled "Determining the Effect of Elastin Digestion on the Regional Biaxial Mechanical Properties of the Murine Cervix," was accepted for a poster session at the 2016 Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference.
August 2015
Cassie Received LBOR!
Congratulations to Cassandra Conway! She received the Louisiana Board of Reagents Graduate Fellowship.
Derek's Abstract Accepted to BMES
Congratulations to Derek Bivona! His abstract, entitled "Regional Variations of Residual Strain Within the Murine Female Reproductive System," was accepted for a podium presentation at the 2015 BMES Annual Meeting. He will present on Saturday, October 10th from 8:45-8:54 AM.