Dr. Adam Hsieh Joins ME Department in November 2004

The Department of Mechanical Engineering in the A.J. Clark School of Engineering welcomes Dr. Adam Hsieh, who will hold a joint appointment with the Bioengineering Graduate Program as an Assistant Professor. Hsieh begins his tenure in Mechanical Engineering on November 1, 2004, and is the first faculty hired by the ME department to participate specifically in the school’s Bioengineering Graduate Program. Other ME faculty participating in the bioengineering program include Professors Elias Balaras, Donald DeVoe, Keith Herold and Elisabeth Smela.

Dr. Hsieh has been conducting his postdoctoral research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery since July 2000, with support from the NIH as a postdoctoral fellow since August 2001. During this period, Hsieh also co-developed and co-instructed a course in Tissue Mechanobiology at the University of California, San Francisco/Berkeley in the Department of Bioengineering for the 2004 Winter quarter, and served as co-instructor for courses in Kinesiology at San Francisco State University during the 2002-2003 academic year. Hsieh received his Ph.D. in bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego.

Hsieh's current research goals are to understand the mechanobiologic determinants of intervertebral disc health, and investigate potential spinal motions preventative against or therapeutic for disc degeneration; elucidate the biologic mechanisms of load-induced changes in extracellular matrix structure and composition in the intervertebral disc; and, utilize mechanical stress as a means to modulate spatial heterogeneity in gene expression and differentiation of multipotential cells with specific application toward tissue engineering. To accomplish these goals, Hsieh employs a range of tools that span engineering and biology, including finite element analysis, biomechanical testing, animal and cell culture model systems, and molecular biology assays.

Published August 1, 2004