Professor of Chemical Engineering Jennifer Weiser has recently co-published multiple peer-reviewed research papers in leading scientific journals, including JOR Spine (2025) and Smart Materials in Medicine. These publications, focused on spine biomechanics and advanced biomaterials, reflect extensive multi-institutional and international collaborations and highlight the involvement of Cooper Union undergraduate researchers in cutting-edge biomedical engineering research.

The JOR Spine publication was conducted in collaboration with a multi-institutional research team across New York, including the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hospital for Special Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, and The Cooper Union.

The study builds on Professor Weiser’s long-standing collaboration with Dr. James Iatridis, Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The project was led by Dr. Iatridis’s post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Neharika Bhadouria, who also served as a mentor to Cooper Union alumna Angelica Baburova ME'25 during their undergraduate research. Baburova has since continued their academic career as a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Columbia University, exemplifying the impact of early research mentorship.

Abstract

Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a major cause of global disability that increases with age. IVD age may affect its injury susceptibility, yet few studies examine spine biomechanical changes with age, fewer address multiple injury types, and none investigate the interplay between age and injury.

Methods: An ex vivo mouse lumbar spine biomechanical study to determine the effects of age, injury, and their interaction. IVDs of 4, 12, and 24 months' mice were subjected to two injury types: Full disc puncture (DP) mimicking advanced IVDD and annulus fibrosus and endplate (AF + EP) injury simulating herniation with endplate junction failure. Spines were tested biomechanically, analyzed radiologically for IVD dimensions, and with FTIR and histology for biochemical content.

Results: Both age and injury significantly altered biomechanical properties of IVDs. Injury had a greater effect than age, and DP caused larger changes than AF + EP injury. Injury and age exhibited an interactive effect, resulting in more pronounced biomechanical dysfunction in middle-aged (12 months) and geriatric IVDs (24 months), likely due to age-related loss of proteoglycans and collagen denaturation shown with FTIR and histology.

Conclusions: We conclude that both age and injury independently and synergistically affect ex vivo biomechanical properties of mouse lumbar spine. The more severe biomechanical change in middle-aged and geriatric mouse lumbar spines suggests similar injuries may cause greater spinal dysfunction in individuals of comparable ages. These findings provide context for future in vivo studies investigating long-term effects of acute spine injuries.

Read more about the research here. 

The Smart Materials in Medicine publication represents a large, multi-country collaboration involving Rowan University (USA), the AO Research Institute (Switzerland), Riga Technical University (Latvia), Diamond Light Source (United Kingdom), Maastricht University (Netherlands), and The Cooper Union (USA).

The work was conducted with Professor Weiser’s long-time collaborator, Dr. Andrea Vernengo, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Rowan University. The collaboration began in 2021, when Dr. Vernengo was based at the AO Research Institute in Switzerland and included an international research experience for a Cooper Union alumna Olivia Kim ChE’23 MChE’24, who spent a summer living and working in the lab in Switzerland. This partnership highlights the global scope of Professor Weiser’s research and her commitment to providing students with immersive, international research opportunities.

Abstract

Complex tissue engineering requires precise spatial cell organization, but static or isotropic hydrogels hinder long-term pattern maintenance due to random cell migration. We developed EXtrusion Patterned Embedded ConstruCT (EXPECT), a thermosensitive hydrogel embedding medium for 3D bioprinting, integrating Carbopol® 940 and gelatin for rheological properties and print fidelity, with poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-graft-chondroitin sulfate (pNIPAAm-CS) for biocompatibility and temperature-responsive behavior (~32 ◦C lower critical solution temperature (LCST)). Rheological and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses confirmed EXPECT's self-healing printability and reversible LCST-driven transitions from hydrophobic (above ~32 ◦C) to hydrophilic (below ~32 ◦C) states. Temperature actuation (15 min at 25 ◦C every ~5 days, otherwise 37 ◦C) in 10 mm toroid channels embedded within EXPECT guided cellular organization of cells seeded in these channels. In chondrogenic medium, actuated single mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) showed ~50 % narrower patterns by day 7, sustained to day 36 (p < 0.001 vs. static, which widened to 137 ± 20 %). Actuated MSC spheroids elongated, forming bipedal shapes and fusing into extended patterns (length 480 ± 158 μm, p < 0.0001) over 36 days. In 14-day human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC)-MSC co-cultures (10:1), actuation reduced pattern width by 27.5 % (p = 0.0236), promoted early protrusions, and decreased cell circularity (vs. 2 % increase in static, p = 0.0173), indicating enhanced elongation and potential vascularization. EXPECT's dynamic, actuation-mediated control of anisotropic cell organization overcomes limitations of static hydrogels, offering significant potential for engineering complex, organized tissues in regenerative medicine.

Read more about the research here.

In addition to these publications, Professor Weiser hosted Dr. Julietta V. Rau, A Research Director at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (National Research Council of Italy) in Rome, through a short-term travel grant written to support a new collaborative project. The team is currently developing composite biomaterials aimed at fighting infection in the spine, an area of growing clinical importance.

This collaboration also involves senior chemical engineering student Cameron Tardy, providing undergraduate students with hands-on research experience in an international, translational research setting.