About
Zhaoxu Meng is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the principal investigator for the Computational Modeling and Design Lab. His primary research interests include multiscale modeling and mechanics of nanocomposites and composites, the design and characterization of bioinspired structural materials, and structure-function relationships of tissue interfaces. The student mentees from his group have received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) and the GRF from NASA SC Space Grant Consortium and also won student awards in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His group is currently funded by USDA, SC EPSCoR, and research institutes/centers at Clemson University. Notably, he has been a Junior Investigator in SC-TRIMH, an NIH COBRE funded by NIH/NIGMS (P20GM121342) at Clemson University. His group has established close collaborations with fellow health researchers among the Clemson University faculty and surgeons and physicians from Prisma Health and MUSC.
How their research is transforming health care
The research from Meng’s group aims to apply quantitative and engineering tools/methods to construct a new paradigm on pathomechanics and the treatment of soft tissue-bone interfaces. Specifically, the advanced experimental and computational engineering tools developed through close collaborations with fellow health researchers and clinical physicians will elucidate the complex structure-function relationships of soft tissue-bone interfaces, the underlying cross-scale mechanisms, and how various risk factors affect or deteriorate such interfaces. The insights from these investigations can lead to translational strategies that may mitigate tissue damage through preventive interventions and innovate future treatments for enhanced healing and regeneration of the interfaces.
Health research keywords
Computational mechanics of nanocomposites, mechanics of fibrous network, multiscale modeling, biomimetic materials, tissue interfaces, musculoskeletal disease.
