Dr. Andarawis-Puri joined the Cornell MAE faculty as the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor in January 2016. Prior to her appointment at Cornell, she was an Assistant Professor in the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. She holds a B.S. from Columbia University in Biomedical Engineering, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Bioengineering, specializing in Biomechanics, with Dr. Louis Soslowsky as her graduate mentor. Following her graduate studies, she completed her post-doctoral training with Dr. Evan Flatow in the Department of Orthopaedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with the goal of strengthening the clinical translation aspect of her biomechanics research. She held an independent faculty position in the Orthopaedics department at Icahn School of Medicine from January 2012 until her appointment at Cornell.
Dr. Andarawis-Puri’s work in tendon research spans both basic science and translational applications. The general objective of her lab is to determine the structural and regulatory role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the tendon in the pathogenesis of tendinopathy and impaired healing of ruptured tendons. Concordant with this general objective, the ongoing focus of the lab evaluates 3 major research directions: 1 The role of the structural and cellular mechanisms by which ECM damage accumulates in the tendon 2 The biomechanical event through which macroscopic ECM deformations are translated into cell signals in tendon healing and degeneration 3 The use of genetic mutants to identify the role of key ECM components in restoration of tendon and joint function She has adopted a multi-disciplinary approach that incorporates biomechanics, biology, imaging, and mathematical modeling to investigate the structural and regulatory function of the tendon ECM. Her ongoing research will provide novel insight into the functions of the ECM in modulating the canonically ineffective healing and remodeling cascade; an unknown that has been a hurdle to the development of effective therapeutics.
Dr. Andarawis-Puri’s teaching interests include undergraduate classes in solid and soft tissue mechanics, and graduate courses in soft tissue biomechanics and orthopaedics.
