Nano Biomechanics & Mechanobiology Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Dr. Scott Wood
Assistant Professor
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
(605) 394-5222
Email: scott.wood@sdsmt.edu
Dr. Wood is an Assistant Professor of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2005 and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering at Clemson University in 2011. He started as a NANO faculty member at the School of Mines in August of 2016, and has also played an integral role in the development of the new Biomedical Engineering bachelor's degree program at the School of Mines. Dr. Wood's research focuses on the biomechanics and mechanobiology of chondrocytes as they pertain to the development and prevention of osteoarthritis. Of particular interest to Dr. Wood are cytoskeletal- and integrin-mediated mechanotransduction pathways regulated by interactions with type VI collagen and fibronectin in the pericellular matrix of the chondrocytes. His ultimate goal for this research is to develop and validate a nanomaterial-based pharmacomechanical therapy that could be used to reverse the progression of osteoarthritis.
Cell and molecular biology, biomechanics, mechanotransduction, fluorescence imaging (including FRET), image processing, thiol-mediated redox signaling, structural proteins, biomaterials, AFM, finite element modeling.