"Role of Elastic Fibers and Smooth Muscle Cells in the Murine Vagina" MAE Colloquium Series

Description

Kristin Miller, Ph.D.
Biomedical Engineering
Tulane University

Tuesday, April 23, 2019, 4:00 pm | B11 Kimball Hall
Refreshments at 3:30 pm | 116 Upson Hall

ABSTRACT
The vagina is central to female pelvic support and adapts to dynamic intra-abdominal pressures throughout a woman’s lifespan. Structural instability in the vagina and surrounding pelvic organs may lead to significant health problems, such as pelvic organ prolapse. While the etiologies of these conditions remain unknown, altered elastic fiber content has been implicated. Elastic fibers are present in most soft biological tissues and are critical to tissue function. Loss of elastic fibers may alter tissue adaptation by both mechanical and biochemical pathways, including altered structural integrity and smooth muscle cell phenotype; however, the relationship between elastic fibers and vaginal mechanical properties are not fully elucidated. In this talk, I will present our efforts to delineate the mechanical role of elastic fibers and smooth muscle cells in the murine vagina. I will specifically characterize vaginal mechanical properties using biaxial extension-inflation tests and hyperelastic constitutive models.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Dr. Kristin S. Miller is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tulane University. Dr. Miller’s research interests are focused on the mechanobiology of soft tissues. Particularly, Dr. Miller’s research group is evaluating the role of elastic fibers in the female reproductive system. Before joining Tulane, Dr. Miller conducted postdoctoral research in vascular remodeling with Dr. Jay Humphrey at Yale University. Dr. Miller received her Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where her research focused on tendon mechanics. In 2018 Kristin was awarded the NSF CAREER award to develop a biomechanical model that can predict how elastic fibers in the soft tissues of the female reproductive system changes in response to mechanical pressure.