Marjolein van der Meulen

James M. and Marsha McCormick Director of Biomedical Engineering
Swanson Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering

Biography

Marjolein (Pronunciation: MAHR-yo-line) van der Meulen is the James M. and Marsha McCormick Director of Biomedical Engineering and Swanson Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering and Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University and a Senior Scientist in the Research Division of the Hospital for Special Surgery. Before joining the faculty at Cornell Marjolein worked for three years as a biomedical engineer at the Rehabilitation R&D Center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Palo Alto, California. In 1995 she received an NIH FIRST Award and in 1999 an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award. Marjolein is a member of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR), the American and European Societies of Biomechanics, and the Orthopaedic Research Society. She is a fellow of AAAS, AIMBE, and ASME. In the past, she was a Deputy Editor for the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, member of the ASBMR Task Force on Atypical Femur Fractures, and member for the Skeletal Biology Structure and Regeneration (SBSR) Study Section at NIH.

Professor van der Meulen’s research in orthopaedic biomechanics focuses on the interaction between mechanical stimuli and the skeleton, and the mechanical properties of musculoskeletal tissues. She is interested in the modulation of bone growth by mechanical loading and in the the determinants of skeletal structure and load bearing function, both areas relevant to diseases such as osteoporosis. To search for her publications, use ResearcherID=D-1549-2010.

Research Interests

Teaching Interests

Professor van der Meulen has taught a variety of required classes in mechanics of materials and design. In addition, she teaches electives in biomechanics.

Service Interests

Professor van der Meulen is the James M. and Marsha McCormick Director of the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering. Previously she served as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering. She was a Co-PI and co-founder of the NSF-funded CU-ADVANCE Center for the hiring, promotion, retention and advancement of women faculty. She also serves on the advisory board for Diversity Programs in Engineering.

Selected Publications

Jepsen, K J., M J. Silva, D. Vashishth, X E. Guo, Marjolein van der Meulen. 2015. “Establishing biomechanical mechanisms in mouse models: practical guidelines for systematically evaluating phenotypic changes in the diaphyses of long bones.” Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 30 (6): 951-966.
Melville, Katherine M., Natalie H. Kelly, Gina Surita, Daniel B. Buchalter, John C. Schimenti, Russell P. Main, F. Patrick Ross, Marjolein van der Meulen. 2015. “Effects of deletion of ER-alpha in osteoblast-lineage bells on bone mass and adaptation to mechanical loading differs in female and male mice.” J Bone Miner Res. 30 (8): 1468-1480.
Ko, Frank, Cecilia Dragomir, Darren A. Plumb, Stephen R. Goldring, Timothy M. Wright, Mary B. Goldring, Marjolein van der Meulen. 2013. “In vivo cyclic compression causes cartilage degeneration and subchondral bone changes in mouse tibiae.” Arthritis & Rheumatism 65 (6): 1569-78.
Ko, F C., C L. Dragomir, D A. Plumb, A W. Hsia, O O. Adebayo, S R. Goldring, T M. Wright, M B. Goldring, M C van der Meulen. 2016.”Progressive cell-mediated changes in articular cartilage and bone in mice are initiated by a single session of controlled cyclic compressive loading.” Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society 34 (11): 1941-1949.
Holyoak, D T., Y F. Tian, M C. van der Meulen, A Singh. 2016. “Osteoarthritis: Pathology, Mouse Models, and Nanoparticle Injectable Systems for Targeted Treatment..” Annals of Biomedical Engineering 44 (6): 2062-2075.

Selected Awards and Honors

Fellow (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2015
Women’s Leadership Award (Orthopaedic Research Society) 2015
Robert ’55 and Vanne ’57 Cowie Excellence in Teaching Award (Cornell University, College of Engineering) 2011
Fellow (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) 2010
Fellow (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering) 2008

Education

B.S. (Mechanical Engineering), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1987
M.S. (Mechanical Engineering), Stanford University, 1989
Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering), Stanford University, 1993