Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Integrated Mechanobiology for Women's Health (IMWEL)

规划补助金：妇女健康综合机械生物学工程研究中心（IMWEL）机械力对人体生理有着深远的影响。太空旅行中零重力的影响和世界级运动员骨骼重塑的影响是在极端性能条件下力如何改变身体的有力例子。影响更广泛人群的同样突出的例子是分娩和绝经后骨质疏松症。然而，尽管对机械力如何影响分子、细胞、组织和生物体有了新的认识，但转化为先进的健康策略仍然是难以捉摸的。特别是妇女健康问题，尽管在怀孕、产妇保健和癌症等领域具有明显的重要性，但却没有得到充分的宣传。为了弥合这一差距，我们设想建立一个中心，将工程师、科学家、教育工作者、企业家和医疗专业人员聚集在机械生物学和妇女健康的交叉点，开发新的知识和工具。一个多学科的中心是需要为这一奋进，作为机械生物学和妇女的健康的基础领域是显着不足，和真实的进展将需要收敛的思维和创造性的解决方案。通过将这些经常不同的群体聚集在一起，通过NSF对该中心的投资旨在通过机械生物学极大地推进女性健康的科学和实践，从而将知识转化为现代医疗保健的新工具。该规划补助金的目标是将哥伦比亚大学的核心研究人员队伍扩大到一个更大的，更多样化的团队，将在战略上适合领导设想的工程研究中心为妇女综合机械生物学？卫生部（IMWEL）。哥伦比亚大学在生物力学方面有着丰富的历史，它不断适应当代的挑战。今天，哥伦比亚大学生物力学的主题包括力如何影响参与细胞功能的分子，组织如何在怀孕期间积极变化，以及开发将基础科学转化为现实模型和解决方案所需的计算框架。这些研究人员以小团队的形式与美国各地的研究人员建立了联系，这些研究人员专注于生物力学的不同方面。通过这项规划补助金，他们打算在全国范围内进一步发展这些和其他联系，以确保由此产生的IMWEL领导团队带来代表各种能力，见解和社会团体的融合专业知识。这将通过围绕机械生物学和妇女健康的一系列讲习班来实现，随后将通过访问哥伦比亚大学以外的参与团队来补充。此外，该规划补助金将包括与NSF支持的辅助中心进行讨论和访问，以确定更大的计划可以有效互动的方式。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Integrated Mechanobiology for Women's Health (IMWEL)Mechanical forces have profound effects on human physiology. The impacts of zero gravity in space travel and of bone remodeling for world-class athletes serve as powerful examples of how forces modify the body under extreme performance conditions. Equally striking examples affecting the broader population are seen in childbirth and post-menopausal osteoporosis. However, despite new understanding of how mechanical forces affect molecules, cells, tissues, and organisms, transformation into advanced strategies for health remains elusive. Women's health topics in particular have been underserved, despite having clear importance in areas such as pregnancy, maternal health, and cancer. To bridge this gap, we envision a Center that brings together engineers, scientists, educators, entrepreneurs, and medical professionals at this intersection of mechanobiology and women's health, developing new knowledge and tools. A multidisciplinary Center is needed for this endeavor, as the underlying fields of mechanobiology and women's health are dramatically underserved, and real progress will require convergent thinking and creative solutions. By bringing together these often-disparate groups, investment in this Center through NSF aims to dramatically advance the science and practice of women's health through mechanobiology, leading to knowledge that will be transformed into new tools for modern healthcare.The goal of this Planning Grant is to expand a core group of investigators at Columbia University into a larger, more diverse team that will be strategically suited to lead the envisioned Engineering Research Center for Integrated Mechanobiology for Women?s Health (IMWEL). Columbia University has a rich history in biomechanics, which continues to adapt to contemporary challenges. Today, topics in biomechanics at Columbia University include how forces affect molecules involved in cellular function, how tissues actively change during pregnancy, and in developing the computational frameworks needed to turn basic science into realistic models and solutions. These investigators have, in small teams, developed connections with researchers around the United States of America that focus on different aspects of biomechanics. Through this Planning Grant, they intend to further develop these and additional connections across the country to ensure that the resultant IMWEL leadership team brings convergent expertise representing a diverse range of capabilities, insights, and societal groups. This will be accomplished through a series of workshops around mechanobiology and women's health, which will be complemented by later visits to the participating teams outside of Columbia University. Furthermore, this Planning Grant will include discussions and visits with complementary NSF-supported Centers to identify ways that the larger program can effectively interact.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.