BME Seminar: Christopher J. Arellano
Monday, January 22, 2024 - 12:00 p.m.
Christopher J. Arellano, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery – College of Medicine
University of Arizona
“Using a Work-Energy Based Framework to Understand Stability at Multiple Scales of Movement”
Keating 103
Zoom link | Password: BearDown
Hosts: Dr. Mario Romero-Ortega and Dr. Shang Song
(Instructor permission required for enrolled students to attend via Zoom)
Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting the Disability Resource Center at 621-3268 (V/TTY).
Abstract:
I am driven by the vision that studying the flow of energy from the whole-body to muscle-tendon units in a biological system is the key to unlocking a framework that explains how the body solves the problem of stability, which remains an unresolved "control" problem in the field. To date, there remains a paradox between engineering and biology. In engineering, ‘compliant’ systems are often considered inherently difficult to control and can lead to undesirable outcomes in biologically inspired structures. Yet, it’s clear that compliance (e.g. elastic tendon tissues in biological systems) is a ubiquitous feature in the best locomotor performing animals in the world. This suggest that advancements in engineering biologically inspired structures can stem from the development of a theoretical framework for managing the flow of energy in compliant systems. I believe a fundamental understanding can come from directly testing the stabilizing function of muscle-tendon units in a biological system. In this talk, I will share on-going work that attempts to address this fundamental question.
Bio:
Christopher J. Arellano is an associate professor in the University of Arizona’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery – College of Medicine. He is the product of the NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship, earning his PhD in integrative physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder. He studied human walking and running to understand the different balance control strategies that help minimize metabolic cost. He then trained as a postdoctoral research associate in the Departmentof Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University studying the mechanical significance of muscle-tendon shape change on locomotor movement. Before arriving at the University of Arizona, Dr. Arellano spent ~ 7 years at the University of Houston establishing an interdisciplinary research program studying questions to understand the link between whole-body performance and muscle-tendon mechanics, which is now supported by an NSF CAREER award. His group tackles problems that range from basic to applied, but the integrative understanding of animal locomotion remains an integral part of Dr. Arellano’s scientific curiosity and interest.