Stanford University(斯坦福大学)

所在州:加利福尼亚州所在城市:StanfordU.S.News排名:5

斯坦福学生自述——

Melinda J. Cromie, PhD student (BME Group)

Standout Stanford ME experience

I especially enjoyed taking ME 298 Silversmithing and Design at the Product Realization Lab. I learned investment casting and various finishing techniques. I made a bronze orchid purse, some silver jewelry, and a silver knight cast from a Lego toy. The instructors were Stanford graduates who started their own business, RedStart Design. They shared with us their passion for design and their experiences from life after Stanford.

My research

I work in Prof. Scott Delp's Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab studying the microscopic structures that generate force in human muscle, called sarcomeres. In collaboration with Prof. Schnitzer's lab, we developed a microendoscopy system which captured the first in vivo images of human sarcomeres. Sarcomeres are the smallest units of muscle tissue that contract to generate force. In some neuromuscular diseases, sarcomeres are altered and the patient experiences debilitating weakness. Sarcomeres are highly sensitive to their loading condition in the body, so to understand normal function and changes with disease, we have to study sarcomeres in the body. These structures are about 20 times smaller than the width of a human hair; much too small to be seen with ultrasound or MRI.

Within sarcomeres, bands of myosin filaments generate an intrinsic optical signal via second harmonic generation (SHG) when stimulated by pulsed laser light. No dyes are required. The excitation and emission light travels to and from the muscle tissue through a tiny rod shaped lens, called a gradient refractive index (GRIN) microendoscope, inside a small needle inserted through the skin. The ability to image sarcomeres in the human body enables a new generation of multiscale biomechanical studies probing the microstructural basis of whole muscle function to examine how muscles change with exercise, disease, and aging.

I enjoy being part of the Biomechanical Engineering community. I've met interesting people who love to think creatively, work hard, and enjoy life. I appreciate the atmosphere of fun, creativity and excellence in my lab group.

Volunteer Service

I recently went to South Asia to support some people working full time there with a service organization. It was inspiring to learn about their work in health training, literacy, and ethnomusicology among the diverse language and culture groups scattered throughout the island. I traveled to a remote mountain village only accessible by small airplane.

I loved seeing village life first hand. I saw grass roofed huts, sloping gardens for subsistence farming, and beautiful jungle mountains on every side. I saw the excitement of the people at the small plane landing on the steep grass runway bringing loved ones, food, and supplies back from the city. I played with the children and learned to count to three in the local dialect. I was touched by the joy and life in the people.

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