MAE Seminar Series - Toni Tang - University of Virginia

Abstract: Biological tissues such as bone, cartilage, and tendon provide both robust mechanical support and essential biological functions, thanks to a hierarchical organization extending from the visible macroscale down to the nanoscale. This intricate structure underpins bone ability to bear loads, remodel in response to stress, and maintain overall skeletal health. However, even subtle changes at smaller length scales—whether due to aging or disease—can undermine these properties, highlighting the need to investigate both mechanical and biological processes across multiple dimensions. An illustrative example of such small-scale alterations is hypermineralization. Although higher mineral content might be expected to enhance bone strength, it can paradoxically make the tissue more brittle. To delve deeper into how these changes occur and affect mechanical behavior, we recently developed a correlative imaging strategy that integrates X-ray tomography, Laser focused ion beam (LaserFIB), and plasma focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). This approach captures three-dimensional architecture and compositional details over a wide range of length scales, allowing us to link microscale and nanoscale variations to tissue-level outcomes. Through this multiscale analysis, we identified a previously unrecognized network of nanochannels—significantly smaller than the known bone cellular pathways—within the mineralized matrix. These channels are hypothesized to facilitate ion and nutrient transport, thereby influencing bone biological function and potential remodeling pathways. Taken together, our findings underscore the critical role of small-scale features in determining bone mechanical performance and biological activity. By combining advanced imaging methods with mechanical and compositional assessments, we can more accurately characterize hierarchical materials like bone, gain insights into conditions that lead to fragility, and open new directions for biomaterial design and clinical interventions. 

Bio: Dr. Tang is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) and the Center for Applied Biomechanics (CAB). She received her Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the University of British Columbia, followed by a post-doctoral training in the Department of Biomaterials at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces with Dr. Peter Fratzl. Before joining UVA, she was an Adjunct Professor and Research Associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at McMaster University, Canada. Her current research interests include examining structure-mechanics-function relationships of biomineralizing tissues and their clinical implications with various bone conditions, such as spinal disk degeneration, osteoarthritis and osteogenesis imperfecta. Dr. Tang has contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying bone deformation and fracture in the context of aging, as well as the fundamental processes of biomineralization in bone, cartilage, and tendon. Her work is published in prestigious journals such as Science Advances, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Acta Biomaterialia, and Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. She has received funding from the National Research Council Canada (NSERC), including NSERC Discovery, NSERC Discovery ECR, and NSERC Alliance. Dr. Tang’s research has led to her being an invited speaker at a broad range of venues, including the Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference (M&M), Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) Annual Meeting & Exhibition, the Gordon Research Conference on Biomineralization, the Canadian Orthopaedic Association and Research Society Annual Meeting, and the International Conference on the Chemistry and Biology of Mineralized Tissues. She is actively contributing to the academic community as a Friedman Scholar and currently serves on the early career researcher editorial board of Bone Reports. 

Host: Dr. Baoxing Xu