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Current lab members:
Manny Azizi, postdoctoral fellow The primary theme of my research is the form and function of the musculoskeletal system in vertebrates. Specifically I am interested in how the spatial organization (architecture) of muscle fibers determines the mechanical output of muscle-tendon units during locomotion. My work combines geometric modeling, in situ physiological techniques and in vivo measurements during locomotion in order to better understand the functional significance of muscle architecture. By developing a comprehensive understanding of muscle architecture, I aim to integrate the mechanical demands of locomotion with the physiological constraints of the vertebrate sarcomere. My doctoral work was primarily focused on the form and function of segmented axial musculature in fishes and salamanders during swimming. For my post-doctoral work I have been using wild turkeys as a model system for understanding the dynamic behavior of pinnate muscles during running. In addition to my primary research interests, I also have ongoing collaborations focused on the ontogeny of locomotor performance in amphibians, phenotypic plasticity of locomotor structures, and underwater walking in tetrapods. I link the role of structural and functional innovation in organisms with their ecology and macroevolution, via an ecomorphological approach. The aim is to understand the historical role of innovations like novel skeletal articulations or architectural rearrangements of muscle-tendon system. Currently, my focus is on the role of tendon in musculoskeletal power-transfer during animal movement, and on the evolution of food processing in vertebrates at multiple levels of organismal design, including skeletal support and motion, muscular activation, neuromotor control and proprioception.
I am broadly interested in the musculoskeletal morphology and mechanics of terrestrial organisms and how it determines their performance. My doctoral research focuses on the muscle and tendon mechanics underlying the rapid acceleration of frog jumping. The well-characterized muscle properties of frogs, static pre-jump posture, possible use of power amplification, and wide diversity of locomotor mode and morphology make them an ideal study system. In order to gain insight into the biomechanics of the frog hindlimb, I use X-ray Reconstruction Of Moving Morphology (http://www.xromm.org/), a new high-speed, high-accuracy 3-D in vivo imaging system developed at Brown, along with force plate measurements and in vitro muscle properties. In addition, I am interested in locomotion in complex environments, particularly arboreal locomotion, as well as terrestrial limbless locomotion.
My projects focus on understanding jumping and muscle performance in frogs and toads. Our interests in true maximal jump performance in bull frogs, Rana catesbeiana, took us to the 82nd annual Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee. There, we recorded the longest ever jump by a bull frog of 2.20m! The key to this spectacular jumping performance in bull frogs may be explained by their ability to utilize elastic energy storage to develop power outputs in excess of their muscle motors' capacity. So currently, I am investigating suspected muscle tendon units that may work as a spring catch mechanisms involved in supramaximal power outputs during jumping.
Gavin Crynes, undergraduate student Roberts Lab alumni Postdocs Graduate Students Research Assistants Undergraduate students Summer teacher participants: |
Nicolai Konow, postdoctoral fellow
Henry Astley, Ph.D. student
Emily Abbott, research assistant
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ph: 401.863.3324 | e-mail: Carol_Casper@brown.edu
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