Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Integrated Mechanobiology for Women's Health (IMWEL)

Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Integrated Mechanobiology for Women's Health (IMWEL)

Mechanical forces have profound effects on human physiology. The impacts of zero gravity in space travel and of bone remodeling for world-class athletes serve as powerful examples of how forces modify the body under extreme performance conditions. Equally striking examples affecting the broader population are seen in childbirth and post-menopausal osteoporosis. However, despite new understanding of how mechanical forces affect molecules, cells, tissues, and organisms, transformation into advanced strategies for health remains elusive. Women's health topics in particular have been underserved, despite having clear importance in areas such as pregnancy, maternal health, and cancer. To bridge this gap, we envision a Center that brings together engineers, scientists, educators, entrepreneurs, and medical professionals at this intersection of mechanobiology and women's health, developing new knowledge and tools. A multidisciplinary Center is needed for this endeavor, as the underlying fields of mechanobiology and women's health are dramatically underserved, and real progress will require convergent thinking and creative solutions. By bringing together these often-disparate groups, investment in this Center through NSF aims to dramatically advance the science and practice of women's health through mechanobiology, leading to knowledge that will be transformed into new tools for modern healthcare.

The goal of this Planning Grant is to expand a core group of investigators at Columbia University into a larger, more diverse team that will be strategically suited to lead the envisioned Engineering Research Center for Integrated Mechanobiology for Women?s Health (IMWEL). Columbia University has a rich history in biomechanics, which continues to adapt to contemporary challenges. Today, topics in biomechanics at Columbia University include how forces affect molecules involved in cellular function, how tissues actively change during pregnancy, and in developing the computational frameworks needed to turn basic science into realistic models and solutions. These investigators have, in small teams, developed connections with researchers around the United States of America that focus on different aspects of biomechanics. Through this Planning Grant, they intend to further develop these and additional connections across the country to ensure that the resultant IMWEL leadership team brings convergent expertise representing a diverse range of capabilities, insights, and societal groups. This will be accomplished through a series of workshops around mechanobiology and women's health, which will be complemented by later visits to the participating teams outside of Columbia University. Furthermore, this Planning Grant will include discussions and visits with complementary NSF-supported Centers to identify ways that the larger program can effectively interact.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.