BIOE 500 Spring 2026 - Prof. Edward Guo

Bone Bioengineering: Microstructure, Mechanics, Mechanobiology, and Beyond

Abstract: Bone Bioengineering has a basic science and clinical significance in many medical fields, such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, or intervertebral disc degeneration. I will highlight our development of three-dimensional imaging analysis and modeling techniques for trabecular bone microstructure, its applications in basic science research of bone mechanics, and clinical applications in osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. We will discuss bone microstructural phenotypes in different races and their implications in genetic and precision medicine, anthropology, evolution, and mechanobiology of the skeletons. In parallel to these developments, we will also showcase how mechanobiology links to bone microstructure and mechanics.

Biography: X. Edward Guo is the Stanley Dicker Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine) at Columbia University. Born and raised in China, he earned his B.S. in Applied Mechanics from Peking University. He pursued graduate training in the United States and received his M.S. (1990) and Ph.D. (1994) in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from the Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He completed postdoctoral training in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories at the University of Michigan.

Professor Guo joined Columbia University in 1996 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2003, Full Professor in 2007, and named Stanley Dicker Professor in 2018. He directs the Bone Bioengineering Laboratory at Columbia, where his research focuses on bone micromechanics, computational biomechanics, and mechanobiology.

His honors include the NSF CAREER Award, NIH National Research Service Award, Young Investigator Recognition Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society, the Christopher R. Jacobs Award from BMES, and the Adele L. Boskey Esteemed Award from ASBMR. He is an elected Fellow of AIMBE, ASME, BMES, ASBMR, ICORS, IAMBME, and ORS. Professor Guo served as Chair of Columbia’s Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2017 to 2023 and founded the Northeast Bioengineering League, serving as its inaugural President.