Our program outcome is to help VPHi's members get to know one another better and involve more and more students in this group, contributing significantly to the Institute's life and the in-silico community!
1. TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF!
I am Satanik, from India and I am in the final year of my PhD at KU Leuven, Belgium in the field in-silico modeling of cartilage mechanobiology. I am passionate about developing computational models to unravel the complex interplay of mechanics and biology at different length scales, and translating them in a clinical context. I spend my leisure playing violin, hiking and doing photography.
2. HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH THE KNOW VPHI? WHAT IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ADDED VALUE OF BEING A VPHI STUDENT MEMBER?
I came to know about VPHi from my supervisor Prof. Liesbet Geris, who is also the Executive Director of VPHi. Being a student member of VPHi comes with several benefits: attending VPHi keynote webinars, networking with co-students working in the field of in-silico medicine, participating in the VPHi working groups, attending the VPHi conference with exciting student awards and activities, to name just a few.
3. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PHD RESEARCH WORK IN 3 SENTENCES?
My research is focused in developing multi-scale in silico models to study the fate of chondrocytes (cells residing in articular cartilage) due to mechanical stimulus in different in-vivo and in-vitro scenarios. My work encompasses development of finite element models of articular cartilage at different length scales and combining them with gene/protein regulatory networks of intracellular biochemical processes. The developed multiscale model can be used to study the role of mechanical loading in onset and progression of osteoarthritis as well as in the context of cartilage tissue engineering.
4. WHAT IS THE EXPECTED OUTCOME YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE?
With the developed multiscale model for articular chondrocytes, I am expecting a two-fold outcome. Firstly, to use the model to predict osteoarthritis progression in human knee joint due to abnormal mechanical cues, and secondly, to devise novel loading regimes to facilitate cartilage regeneration in cartilage tissue engineering.
5. HAVE YOU ALREADY PUBLISHED ANY PAPERS AS PART OF YOUR RESEARCH WORK? OR HAVE YOU REACHED ANY RESULTS THAT MAKE YOU PROUD?
During the early years of my PhD, I published a review article of computers models of joint degeneration. In my ongoing research, I developed a multiscale model of the human knee joint, using which we were able to successfully predict degenerative changes in articular cartilage due to meniscectomy. A journal article regarding this study is currently under preparation, along with another publication on optimizing loading protocols for a bioreactor set-up.
[1] Mukherjee, S., Nazemi, M., Jonkers, I., & Geris, L. (2020). Use of computational modeling to study joint degeneration: A review. Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 8, 93.
