Dr. Nadeen Chahine applies the tools of biomedical engineering to study the behavior of healthy and injured cartilaginous tissues in the musculoskeletal system.  Specifically, her research examines the structure and function relationships of the cartilaginous tissues in articular joints and the spine with relation to the tissue’s biomechanical behavior.  Cartilage and the IVD play a pivotal role in load transmission during locomotion, and their ability to bear load changes with aging and degeneration.

The aim of Dr. Chahine’s research is two fold:  (1) Understand the role and relationships between inflammation and biomechanics in the etiology of disc degeneration and arthritic disease. (2) Design biological replacements of diseased cartilaginous tissues that can withstand the biomechanical and inflammatory environment after implantation.  Our approach to this research utilizes hierarchical studies that examine the behavior of the system at the joint, tissue, cellular, and molecular level.  Many of these studies employ new materials (in micro and nano technology) and devices currently under development.  The ultimate goal of studying the healthy function of tissues and cells is to develop treatments, and potentially cures, for arthritis and disc degenerative diseases. 

The wide range of research projects in our lab represents an interdisciplinary approach to the highest quality of basic and applied research and educational training of medical residents (from the departments of neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery) in bioengineering and biomechanics.  Under the leadership of Neurosurgeon Mitchel Levine, M.D., the Biomechanics and Bionengineering laboratory will be hosting the neurosurgery residents for research rotations in biomechanics and tissue regeneration.

Dr. Chahine also studies diseases that affect biomechanics of other soft tissues in the body.  In collaboration with Daniel Grande, PhD, she is conducting several projects on the repair of tendons using various novel therapeutic delivery systems.  Dr. Chahine is collaborating with Ona Bloom, PhD on studies examining the repair and regeneration of the spinal chord.  Dr. Chahine’s work also examines the effect of healthy aging on the response of cells to loading.  This project is being carried out in collaboration with physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
 
Publications:

Chahine N.O., Albro, M.B., Wei V.W., Lima E.G., Hung C.T., Ateshian G.A., 2009, Effect of Dynamic Loading on the Transport of Solutes into Agarose Hydrogels.  Biophysical Journal.

Daher R.J., Chahine N.O., Greenberg A.S., Sgaglione N.A., Grande D.A., 2009, The Second Generation of Diagnoses and Treatments of Cartilage Degeneration: A Review, Nature Reviews Rheumatology, In Press.

Ateshian G.A., Rajan V., Chahine N.O., Canal C.E., Hung C.T., 2009,  Modeling the Matrix of Articular Cartilage Using a Continuous Fiber Angular Distribution Predicts Many Observed Phenomena, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering,  April 21; Volume 131, Issue 6.

Moffat K.L., Sun W.S., Pena P.E., Chahine N.O., Doty S.B., Ateshian G.A., Hung C.T., Lu H.H., 2008, Characterization of the Structure-Function Relationship at the Ligament-to-Bone Interface, Proceedings of the National Academies of Science U.S.A., Jun 10;105(23):7947-52

Albro, M.B., Chahine N.O., Li R., Yeager K., Hung C.T., Ateshian G.A., 2008, Dynamic Loading of Soft Hydrated Gels Enhances Solute Uptake Over Passive Diffusion, Journal of Biomechanics. November, 41(15):3152-3157

Albro M.B., Chahine N.O., Caligaris M., Wei V.I., Likhitpanichkul M., Ng K.W., Hung C.T., Ateshian G.A., 2007, Osmotic loading of spherical gels: a biomimetic study of hindered transport in the cell protoplasm. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. Aug;129(4):503.

Chahine N.O., Hung C.T., Ateshian G.A., 2007, In-Situ Measurements of Chondrocyte Deformation Under Transient Loading, European Cell and Materials, Volume 13, Issue: Jan-Jun 2007: 100-111.

Basalo, I.M., Chahine N.O., Chen, F.H., Hung C.T., Ateshian, G.A., 2007, Chondroitin Sulfate Reduces The Friction Coefficient of Articular Cartilage. Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 40, Issue 8:1847-54.

Chahine N.O.,  Ateshian G.A, Hung C.T., 2007, The Effect of Finite Compressive Strain on Chondrocyte Viability in Statically Loaded Bovine Articular Cartilage.  Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, Volume 6, Issue 1-2:103-11.

Chahine N.O., Chen, F.H., Hung C.T., Ateshian, G.A., 2005, Direct Measurement of the Osmotic Pressure of Glycosaminoglycan Solutions at Room Temperature.  Biophysical Journal, Volume 89, Issue 9: 1-8.

Ng K.W., Wang C.C-B., Mauck R.L., Kelly T.N., Chahine N.O., Costa K.D., Ateshian G.A., Hung C.T., 2005, A Layered Agarose Approach To Fabricate Depth-Dependent Inhomogeneity in Chondrocyte-Seeded Constructs.  Journal of Orthopaedic Research,Volume  23, Issue 1: 134-141.

Chahine N.O., Wang C.C-B., Hung C.T., Ateshian G.A., 2004, Anisotropic Strain-Dependent Material Properties of Bovine Articular Cartilage in the Transitional Range From Tension To Compression.  Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 37, Issue 8: 1251-1261.

Ateshian G.A., Chahine N.O., Basalo I.M., Hung C.T., 2004, The Correspondence Between Equilibrium Biphasic and Triphasic Material Properties in Mixture Models of Articular Cartilage, 2003, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 37, Issue 3: 391-400.

Wang C.C.B, Chahine N.O., Hung, C.T., Ateshian, G.A., 2003, Optical Determination of Anisotropic Material Properties of Bovine Articular Cartilage in Compression,  Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 36, Issue 3: 339-353.