The Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory (MBL) was established under the direction of Gerard A. Ateshian in 1996. Professor Ateshian has a joint appointment in Columbia's Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering and he recruits students from both programs. Initially, the MBL's research focused principally on cartilage mechanics and lubrication. Starting in the late 1990s, a strong collaborative effort was established with Prof. Clark Hung's Cellular Engineering Laboratory in the areas of cartilage tissue engineering and cell mechanics. More recently, the research efforts of the MBL have expanded toward modeling of solute transport and growth processes in biological tissues; the development of computational tools that can address these mechanisms; and the extension of insights gained from musculoskeletal studies to cardiovascular tissues and reproductive cells. The MBL's fundamental philosophy is that major scientific breakthroughs can be achieved in biomedical engineering by judiciously combining theoretical analyses with experimental studies.
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Slide 1: Lab Photo!
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Slide 2: Clark's Fall BBQ
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Slide 3: Krista's defense
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Slide 4: Professor Gerard Ateshian
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Slide 5: Summer lab pic
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Slide 6: Social distanced joint harvest
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Slide 7: CEL & MBL
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Slide 8: Summer lab pic lion
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Slide 9: Pipette
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Slide 10: AF OREF OA bootcamp
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Slide 11: CMBBE MBL alumni
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Slide 12: Histology
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Slide 13: Tweet the tib at ORS 2022
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Slide 14: Summer 2022 lab pic
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Slide 15: Columbia SB3C 2022
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Slide 16: lab photo 2023 1
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Slide 17: lab photo 2023 2
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Slide 18: lab photo 2023 3
Recent News
Haoyu and Sarah Presented Their Research at ORS 2026 in Charlotte
Congrats to our lab members for presenting at the 2026 Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina!
Haoyu gave a podium presentation on his work, “Synovial Fluid Delays Delamination Wear in Immature Bovine Cartilage Under Pure Cyclical Compressive Loading,” presenting compelling evidence that synovial fluid protects cartilage from fatigue failure under dynamic compression, independent of its lubricating effects.
Happy Holidays From the MBL and Soft Tissue Lab!
MBL celebrated a successful year with the annual holiday party alongside the Soft Tissue Lab at a local restaurant, Bar 314. Looking forward to a fruitful upcoming year!
Sarah and Haoyu present their work at the ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference 2025
Congrats to our lab members for presenting at the 2025 Summer Bioengineering Conference hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico!
Sarah gave a podium presentation about her computational modeling work, 'Novel Application of Bendable Osteochondral Allografts in
Carpometacarpal Osteoarthritis Treatment.'
Haoyu also gave a podium presentation covering a novel experimental method, 'Using Gravitational Permeation to Measure Tissue Hydraulic
Permeability at Low Pressures and High Fluid Fluxes.'
