Mauck Laboratory

Bhavana Mohanraj, Ph.D.

Graduate Student in Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania

Hometown

Chandler, AZ

Education

M.S., B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Areas of Special Interest

Further our understanding of the consequences of supra-physiologic loading (traumatic injury) on the mechanical and biological repsonse of cartilage to guide therapeutic strategies to alter the trajectory of cartilage degeneration in post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA).

The three specific areas of interest are:

  1. The development of a novel high throughput injury platform for screening and discovery of therapeutics.
  2. Measuring the micro- and nano-scale changes in pericellular matrix composition and mechanical properties.
  3. Design of mechano-activatable microcapsules as a unique system for stimulating musculoskeletal repair in an autonomic manner.

I like working with my hands, that is part of the fun of science!-- but it is also part of the fun of cooking and crafting which is what I like to do on the weekends. When I do get stir crazy, I also like to travel and find new adventures in new cities with my friends and family.

Awards

  • Class of 1902 Research Prize, RPI
  • Rensselaer Medal, RPI

Publications

Mohanraj B, Tu F, Kim M, Lee D, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. "Mechano-activatable Microcapsules for Tunable Drug Delivery," in preparation.

Mohanraj B, Huang AH, Yeger-McKeever MJ, Schmidt MJ, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. "Engineered Cartilage Formed from MSCs is More Sensitive to Inflammatory Cytokine Challenge than Chondrocyte-based Constructs," in preparation.

Mohanraj B, Tu F, Kim M, Lee D, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. "Mechano-activatable Microcapsules for Tunable Drug Delivery," in preparation.

Mohanraj B, Huang AH, Yeger-McKeever MJ, Schmidt MJ, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. "Engineered Cartilage Formed from MSCs is More Sensitive to Inflammatory Cytokine Challenge than Chondrocyte-based Constructs," in preparation.

Mohanraj B, Meloni GR, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. "A High Throughput Model of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis using Engineering Cartilage Tissue Analogs," 2014, Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 22(9): 1282-90.

Mohanraj B, Hou C, Meloni GR, Cosgrove BD, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. "A High Throughput Mechanical Screening Device for Cartilage Tissue Engineering," 2013, Journal of Biomechanics, 47(9): 2130-36.

Mohanraj B, Farran AJ, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. "Time-Dependent Functional Maturation of Scaffold-Free Cartilage Tissue Analogs," 2014, Journal of Biomechanics, 47(9): 2137-42.

Gorth DJ, Mauck RL, Chiaro JA, Mohanra jB, Hebela NM, Dodge GR, Elliot DM, Smith LJ. "IL-1ra Delivered from Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) Microspheres Attenuates IL-1β-mediated Degradation of Nucleus Pulposus In Vitro," 2012, Arthritis Research & Therapy, 14(4).Strutz WC, Mohanraj B, et al. (2012, February) A Model for Testing the Effects of Injury and Repair Using Engineered Cartilage Tissue Analogs: The Effects of Impact Loading on Chondrocyte Gene Expression. Poster at Orthopaedic Research Society 2012 Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

Mohanraj B., et al. (2010, April) Real time detection of nanoparticle toxicity using electric cell-impedance sensing. Poster and Podium at Society for Biomaterials 2010 Annual Meeting and Exposition, Seattle, WA.

Mohanraj B., et al. (2009, October) Cell Impedance Spectroscopy for the Detection of Ag and Cu Nanoparticle Toxicity. Poster Presentation at Biomedical Engineering Society 2009 Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA.

Abstracts

Mohanraj B, Kim M, Tu F, Lee D, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. Loading Induced 'On-Demand' Delivery from Mechanically Activated Microcapsules. 2016 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, podium presentation. March 5-8. Orlando, FL.

Mohanraj B, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. Traumatic Injury Induces Rapid Pericellular Matrix Remodeling and Alters Territorial Matrix Nanomechanics in an In Vitro Cartilage Explant Model. 2016 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, poster presentation. March 5-8. Orlando, FL.

Mohanraj B, Tu F, Lee D, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. Mechano-activatable Microcapsules for Tunable Drug Delivery. 2015 Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference, podium presentation. June 17-20. Snowbird, UT.

Meloni GR, Farran A, Mohanraj B, Gigout A, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. Sprifermin (rhFGF18) Preserves Articular Cartilage Depth-Dependent Properties During In Vitro Culture. 2015 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, poster presentation. March 28-31. Las Vegas, NV.

Farran A, Cocca RA, Meloni GR, Mohanraj B, Gigout A, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. Enhanced Integration with Treatment of Sprifermin (rhFGF18) in a Cartilage Injury-Repair Model. 2014 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, poster presentation. March 15-18. New Orleans, LA.

Farran A, Cocca RA, Meloni GR, Mohanraj B, Gigout A, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. Sprifermin (rhFGF18) Preserves Articular Cartilage Properties During In Vitro Culture. 2014 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, poster presentation. March 15-18. New Orleans, LA.

Cocca RA, van Caam A, Farran A, Mohanraj B, Meloni GR, Mauck RL, van der Kraan PM, Dodge GR. Perlecan Expression is Strongly Reduced in Aging Cartilage but Increased by Physiological Loading. 2014 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, poster presentation. March 15-18. New Orleans, LA.

Mohanraj B, Farran A, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. Temporal Development of Functional Properties in Scaffold-Free Cartilage Tissue Analogs. 2013 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, poster presentation. January 26-29. San Antonio, TX.

Mohanraj B, Hou C, Cosgrove BD, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. A High Throughput Mechanical Model to Study Injurious Compression of Engineered Cartilage. 2013 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, podium presentation. January 26-29. San Antonio, TX.

Mohanraj B, Schmidt MM, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Chondrogenic 3D Culture are More Sensitive to Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines than Chondrocytes. 2013 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society, poster presentation. January 26-29. San Antonio, TX.

Mohanraj B, Strutz W, Mauck RL, Dodge GR. A Model for Testing the Effects of Injury and Repair Using Engineering Cartilage Tissue Analogs. 2012 World Congress on Osteoarthritis, poster presentation. April 26-29. Barcelona, Spain.

Cosgrove BD, Mohanraj B, Hou C, Dodge GR, Mauck RL. A Novel High-Throughput System for the Mechanical Analysis and Impact Loading of Multiple Engineered Cartilage Constructs. 2012 World Congress on Osteoarthritis, poster presentation. April 26-29. Barcelona, Spain."

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