Tissue Mechanics

Professor Cowin received his BES and MS in Civil Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1956 and 1958, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from the Pennsylvania State University in 1962. After one year on the faculty at the Pennsylvania State University, he began a 25-year-long association with Tulane University in 1963. His principal research interest is the mechanics of materials, particularly in determining the influence of microstructure on the gross mechanical behavior of granular, composite, and biological materials. Professor Cowin has also been Professor-in-Charge of the Tulane/Newcomb Junior Year Abroad Program in Great Britain and Chairman of the Applied Mathematics Program at Tulane. In 1985 he received the Society of Tulane Engineers and Lee H. Johnson Award for Teaching Excellence. He was the recipient of the Best Paper Award from the Bioengineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1992; a recipient of the Melville Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1993, and a recipient of the European Society of Biomechanics Research Award in 1994. In 1999 he receive the H. R. Lissner medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for contributions to biomedical engineering. In 2004 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2004 he also received the Maurice A. Biot medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Professor Cowin is the author of over 200 research papers and editor or co-editor of five books. The edited books include both editions of the popular Bone Mechanics Handbook (CRC Press, 1989, 2001) and Cardiovascular Soft Tissue Mechanics (Kluwer, 2001). He is presently or has been Regional Editor for Forma, Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Mechanics, the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biomechanics<, the International Journal of Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, the Annals of Biomedical Engineering, and Mechanics Research Communications. Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility. Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas. Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility. Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas. Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility. Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas. Dr. Doty attended undergraduate and graduate school at Rice University, Houston, Texas, and received his PhD in 1965, concentrating on physiology and biology. He was Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine from 1965-1975, with one year at NIH on a Special Fellowship in Pathology at the National Cancer Institute. He then worked at the NIH Dental Institute for 3 years, studying the developmental patterns of bone and dental tissues. In 1978 he accepted a position at Columbia University School of Medicine and advanced to Associate Professor in Anatomy, with an appointment in the Orthopedic Surgery division. From 1989 he has been affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as a Senior Scientist and as the Director of the Analytical Microscopy Laboratory, a core facility. Dr. Doty has over 100 publications in the field of anatomy, developmental biology, and the physiology of skeletal and connective tissues. His honors include several commendations for participation in the Russian/NASA spaceflights, the Spacelab Life Science NASA spaceflights, and numerous Shuttle missions that studied the influence of spaceflight on skeletal physiology. He presently is on the scientific advisory board of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, Texas.

The Structure of Tissues.- Mechanical Modeling of Biological Structures.- Basic Continuum Kinematics.- Continuum Formulations of Conservation Laws.- Modeling Material Symmetry.- Formulation of Constitutive Equations.- Four Linear Continuum Theories.- Modeling Material Microstructure.- Poroelasticity.- Collagen.- Bone Tissue.- Bone Tissue Adaptation.- Modeling Poroelastic and Electrical Effects in Soft Tissues.- Cartilage.- Kinematics and Mechanics of Large Deformations.- Tendon and Ligament.

From the reviews:"This is one of the few pioneering treatises on continuum biomechanics, which is a rapidly advancing field during the last two decades. Two well-known experts currently active in bone mechanics and bone surgery wrote the treatise. … the authors performed a valuable service to biomechanics community by the timely treatise, which is rigorously written and easy to read, and will be interest to graduate students and researchers, and certainly stimulate further research in the area of tissue mechanics." (M. Cengiz Dökmeci, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1117 (19), 2007)"The authors provide one of the most comprehensive treatments of the continuum biosolid mechanics of biological tissues available. … The book comprises enough material for a more advanced undergraduate course and a graduate course. … Tissue mechanics by Cowin and Doty is a valuable and highly recommended reference for any serious student of tissue biomechanics." (Andrew D. McCulloch, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2008 d)