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Robert L. Mauck, PhD is the Mary Black Ralston Professor of Education and Research in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a Senior Research Career Scientist and Co-Director of the Translational Musculoskeletal Research Center at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia and Director of the RRDT-funded Cartilage Regeneration using Advanced Technologies to Enable (CReATE) Motion Center. His research program focuses on the engineering and mechanobiology of musculoskeletal tissues, with a particular interest in restoring articular cartilage, the knee meniscus, and the intervertebral disc. Dr. Mauck’s team uses mechanical and molecular analyses to explore native tissue structure-function-phenotype relationships in health and disease and employs this information to enhance regeneration through focused technology development. His work explores progenitor cell function and efficacy in a variety of biomaterial contexts and across multiple length scales, from subcellular biophysical properties to translation of engineered systems in large animal models. His work is supported with funding from the NIH and the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as private foundations. He has published >310 manuscripts cited >20,000 times in the field of musculoskeletal tissue engineering and mechanobiology, and have mentored >40 PhD, MD-PHD, and VMD-PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in his laboratory.
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Selected Publications
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Gullbrand Sarah E, Ashinsky Beth G, Bonnevie Edward D, Kim Dong Hwa, Engiles Julie B, Smith Lachlan J, Elliott Dawn M, Schaer Thomas P, Smith Harvey E, Mauck Robert L: Long-term mechanical function and integration of an implanted tissue-engineered intervertebral disc. Science translational medicine 10(468): eaau0670, Nov 2018.
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Qu Feini, Holloway Julianne L, Esterhai John L, Burdick Jason A, Mauck Robert L: Programmed biomolecule delivery to enable and direct cell migration for connective tissue repair. Nature communications 8(1): 1780, 11 2017.
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Cosgrove Brian D, Mui Keeley L, Driscoll Tristan P, Caliari Steven R, Mehta Kush D, Assoian Richard K, Burdick Jason A, Mauck Robert L: N-cadherin adhesive interactions modulate matrix mechanosensing and fate commitment of mesenchymal stem cells. Nature materials 15(12): 1297-1306, 12 2016.
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Han Woojin M, Heo Su-Jin, Driscoll Tristan P, Delucca John F, McLeod Claire M, Smith Lachlan J, Duncan Randall L, Mauck Robert L, Elliott Dawn M: Microstructural heterogeneity directs micromechanics and mechanobiology in native and engineered fibrocartilage. Nature materials 15(4): 477-84, Apr 2016.
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Peredo AP, Gullbrand SE, Friday CS, Orozco BS, Dehghani B, Jenk AC, Bonnevie ED, Hilliard RL, Zlotnick HM, Dodge GR, Lee D, Engiles JB, Hast MW, Schaer TP, Smith HE, Mauck RL.: Tension-activated nanofiber patches delivering an anti-inflammatory drug improve repair in a goat intervertebral disc herniation model. Sci Transl Med 15: eadf1690, Nov 2023.
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Bonnevie ED, Scanzello CR, Mauck RL.: Modulating mechanobiology as a therapeutic target for synovial fibrosis to restore joint lubrication. Osteoarthritis Cartilage Oct 2023.
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Jones DL, Hallström GF, Jiang X, Locke RC, Evans MK, Bonnevie ED, Srikumar A, Leahy TP, Nijsure MP, Boerckel JD, Mauck RL, Dyment NA.: Mechanoepigenetic regulation of extracellular matrix homeostasis via Yap and Taz. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 120: e2211947120, May 2023.
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Heo SJ, Thakur S, Chen X, Loebel C, Xia B, McBeath R, Burdick JA, Shenoy VB, Mauck RL, Lakadamyali M.: Aberrant chromatin reorganization in cells from diseased fibrous connective tissue in response to altered chemomechanical cues. Nat Biomed Eng 2023.
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Patel JM, Loebel C, Saleh KS, Wise BC, Bonnevie ED, Miller LM, Carey JL, Burdick JA, Mauck RL.: Stabilization of Damaged Articular Cartilage with Hydrogel-Mediated Reinforcement and Sealing. Adv Healthc Mater 2021.
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Zlotnick HM, Clark AT, Gullbrand SE, Carey JL, Cheng XM, Mauck RL.: Magneto-Driven Gradients of Diamagnetic Objects for Engineering Complex Tissues. Adv Mater 2020.
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Heo SJ, Song KH, Thakur S, Miller LM, Cao X, Peredo AP, Seiber BN, Qu F, Driscoll TP, Shenoy VB, Lakadamyali M, Burdick JA, Mauck RL.: Nuclear softening expedites interstitial cell migration in fibrous networks and dense connective tissues. Sci Adv 6: eaax5083, Jun 2020.
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Bonnevie ED, Gullbrand SE, Ashinsky BG, Tsinman TK, Elliott DM, Chao PG, Smith HE, Mauck RL.: Aberrant mechanosensing in injured intervertebral discs as a result of boundary-constraint disruption and residual-strain loss. Nat Biomed Eng 2019.
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Lemmon EA, Burt KG, Kim SY, Kwok B, Laforest L, Xiao R, Han L, Scanzello CR, Mauck RL, Agnello KA.: Interleukin receptor therapeutics attenuate inflammation in canine synovium following cruciate ligament injury. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2024.
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Xu KL, Di Caprio N, Fallahi H, Dehghany M, Davidson MD, Laforest L, Cheung BCH, Zhang Y, Wu M, Shenoy V, Han L, Mauck RL, Burdick JA.: Microinterfaces in biopolymer-based bicontinuous hydrogels guide rapid 3D cell migration. Nat Commun 15: 2766, Mar 2024.
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Last updated: 12/03/2025
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