Position
Researcher and Adjunct Professor
Contact
UCLA / Orthopaedic Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Rehabilitation Center 22-69
Section Biomechanics Research
1000 Veteran Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90095
310-825-6341 Telephone
310-825-5290 Fax
Bone micro-mechanics, hierarchical simulation of bone tissue. primary cilium of growth plate chondrocyte.
Maria-Grazia Ascenzi directs a bone micro-biomechanics laboratory in the Rehab Building at UCLA. She applies theoretical mathematics to biological contexts to explain biomechanical behavior observed in the laboratory. She observes the microstructure of bone (human, rat, mouse) by regular light microscopy, polarized light microscopy and scanning confocal microscopy. She conducts (i) isolation of human secondary osteons and their lamellar components through unique techniques; (ii) morphometry of compact and cancellous bone microstructures as well as micro-components of the growth plate; (iii) micro-mechanical testing of bone micro-specimens classified in terms of collagen/apatite orientation and degree of calcification; (iv) mathematical analysis of large data sets obtained through morphometry or micro-mechanical testing. She uses various supercomputers-UCLA's Hoffman Cluster, UC San Diego's Datastar and Cobalt at The National Center for Supercomputing Applications, to build models of bone micro-structural components that contain ultra-structural specifications, in order to simulate the mechanical testing conducted in the laboratory and to shed light on fracture initiation and propagation. Dr. Ascenzi's basic science research is now finding applications in clinical research. For example, the material properties of bone microstructure are now being inserted in patient-specific finite element models based on the patient's CT scan. The new macro-micro model can explain the micro-structural mechanisms of fracture due to osteoporosis and other pathologies.
A substantial number of students works in her lab through UCLA's Student Research Program for undergraduate students and its Short Term Training Program for medical students. Engineers who volunteer their time on her projects through the Volunteer Program also work in the lab.
Dr. Ascenzi organized the workshop Bone Tissue: Hierarchical Simulations for Clinical Applications, held at UCLA from April 21 to 23, 2010 in collaboration with the UCLA's Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics and the Office of Continuing Medical Education of the School of Medicine. Orthopaedic surgeons, clinicians, system biologists, mechanical and software engineers, physicists and applied mathematicians met to share progress and map a path towards the elaboration of clinically-useful virtual bone - a multi-scale virtual rendering of bone tissue in three dimensions. The workshop and the follow up of the working group established in connection with the workshop are timely because of:
(1) increasing availability of mathematical techniques for advanced imaging analysis and theories that link different scales of tissue;
(2) accumulation of information about bone's micro- and ultra- structure; and
(3) increase of supercomputer capability to allow multi-scale models with higher complexity.
Organizing committee
Maria-Grazia Ascenzi, PhD in Mathematics
UCLA/Orthopedic Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
John S. Adams, MD
Executive Vice Chairman for Research
UCLA/Orthopedic Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Elena Cherkaev, PhD in Mathematics
Department of Mathematics, University of Utah
Paul C. Dechow, PhD in Anatomy
Biomedical Sciences, Baylor College of Dentistry
Eve Donnelly, PhD in Mechanical Engineering
Mineralized Tissues Laboratory, Hospital for Special Surgery
Gwendolen Reilly, PhD in Biology
Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Keynote speakers
David Burr, PhD
Professor, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Biomedical Engineering IUPUI and Purdue University.
Marjolein van der Meulen, PhD
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University
Nico Verdonschot, PhD
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Radboud University, The Netherlands
Thank you to our sponsors
National Science Foundation, Amgen, Lilly USA, Medtronic, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, Nature, Simulia, Springer.
Dr. Ascenzi's method allows a Math Anxious student to let go of negative, false beliefs about personal abilities, to discover a new natural approach to numbers, to do well with numbers, to pursue more freely personal goals, and to teach the methods to others. Math Anxiety was first recognized and labeled in the United States during the seventies. Since then a voluminous literature on its nature and on strategies to cope with it has appeared. Nevertheless, no complete solution has been found, and even the partial ones offered have not been made part, to any significant degree, of the educational system; this is one of the causes for the low level of interest and performance of American students, especially women, in mathematics and sciences relative to those of other countries. Dr. Ascenzi's approach to the resolution of Math Anxiety differs from the other methods because it engages the left brain and the right brain.
Ascenzi, M.-G. (2009) Applied mathematician uses Maple to simulate the biomechanics of human bone microstructure. Published February 13, 2009 at Maplesoft website http://www.maplesoft.com/company/publications/articles.
Pending Patents
#60/708,987: Cellular function underlying bone micro-structure characteristic of type 2 diabetes
#20080119719: Template for assessing bone quality and methods of use thereof
