Cheng Li

Joint Graduate Program in Bioengineering
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, San Francisco

Nanoindentation has recently gained wide popularity in the biomaterials field for the ability to probe localized mechanical properties in situ at the micron and submicron lengths scales. Articular cartilage is known to have a graded microstructure and heterogeneous composition. I aim to use instrumented nanoindentation and biochemical and structural characterization techniques to obtain quantitative and qualitative measurements of native articular cartilage mechanical properties and constituent compositions. The goal is to characterize structure-function properties of native cartilage at the microstructural level. This is important for understanding how the global mechanical forces are distributed in the local tissue and cellular environment in cartilage. The nanoindentation protocols developed will be applied to expand understanding of cartilage as a structural load-bearing tissue as well as disease mechanisms of arthritic joints.