Event
BIOE Seminar: Next Generation of Biomedical AI: Towards Generative, Agentic, and Trustworthy
Friday, January 30, 2026
9:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room #2121
Catherine Kuo
ckk@umd.edu
Elise F. Morgan
Maysarah K. Sukkar Professor of Engineering Design and Innovation
Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science, and Engineering, Orthopaedic Surgery
Boston University
Next Generation of Biomedical AI: Towards Generative, Agentic, and Trustworthy
Abstract
Spine fractures are the hallmark of osteoporosis, affecting one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50. Yet how these fractures occur and what factors affect the likelihood of fracture remain poorly understood. Our laboratory has developed a method of 3-D, quantitative visualization of the initiation and progression of spine fractures. This method uses volumetric digital image correlation (VDIC; or digital volume correlation (DVC)) to analyze time-lapse sequences of high-resolution computed tomography images of spine segments undergoing loading. Over multiple series of experiments, we have identified microstructural and anatomical features that are associated with initiation and propagation of failure. Interestingly, a characteristic length is observed in the deformations which is dependent on age- and disease-related changes in microstructure and material properties, both in the vertebra itself and in the adjacent intervertebral disc. These results provide a strong biomechanical rationale for one of the clinical methods used to screen for vertebral fracture; however, they counter pervasive assumptions that regions of low density in the vertebra are the “weak links” and fail first. Our data also suggest unique mechanical behavior of the bony tissue right at the interface between the vertebra and intervertebral disc. Finally, through comparison of our experimental measurements to clinically translatable finite element modeling, this work charts a clear path towards obtaining accurate, patient-specific predictions of fracture risk in the spine.
Bio
Elise Morgan is dean of the College of Engineering and the Maysarah K. Sukkar Professor of Engineering Design and Innovation at Boston University. She holds a primary faculty appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and additional appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and in the Division of Materials Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering, as well as an appointment in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. She was the founding director of the Center for Multiscale and Translational Mechanobiology at Boston University, and she co-directs the University’s Graduate Training Program in Biological Feedback Control. Prior to serving as dean, she was the College of Engineering’s Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development. Dr. Morgan leads an internationally recognized research program in the mechanical behavior of bone and its capacity for regeneration. She has published more than 100 full-length papers, including seminal studies in biomechanics and mechanobiology that have been widely used to evaluate orthopaedic procedures and devices, to guide strategies for bone tissue engineering, and to develop new predictors of the risk of bone fracture in the elderly. Honors for Dr. Morgan’s research include awards from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, as well as membership in the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Morgan’s research has been cited more than 15,000 times and has received funding from multiple federal agencies, foundations, and industry partners. In addition to her current and prior leadership positions in the College of Engineering, Dr. Morgan has served in varied capacities in her professional communities, including serving on boards of the Orthopaedic Research Society and journals such as the Journal of Biomechanics and Bone. She is a past chair of the Skeletal Biology, Structure, and Regeneration study section of the NIH Center for Scientific Review. Dr. Morgan is strongly committed to expanding access and opportunity for all individuals in science and engineering. She is passionate about the power of engineering to create opportunities for individuals, communities, and entire nations, through technological innovation and upward mobility. Dr. Morgan received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California Berkeley and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Surgery at Stanford University.
