Dr. Alessandra Carriero joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering of The City College of New York in 2017. Her research examines bone multi-scale mechanics and mechano-adaptation in growth, ageing and disease with the aim to understand and predict bone fractures and deformities, and aid in the development of new treatments for skeletal pathologies. Her interdisciplinary research combines mechanical engineering methods, material science approaches, high-resolution imaging, clinical data and biological analysis to reveal how mechanical forces influence bone growth, maintenance and function. An enhanced understanding of the interplay between bone mechanical behaviour, composition, structure and biological function provides new and valuable insights into how healthy bone grows, ages, supports and adapts to loads avoiding deformations and fractures. Investigating how growth, ageing and disease change bone properties is of great clinical importance for developing therapies that can repair bone’s mechanical integrity. Dr. Carriero’s research has potential to make significant positive impact on the quality of life of patients while delivering economic benefits.

She obtained a PhD in Bone Biomechanics from Imperial College London, developing a computational model for the influence of mechanical loads on bone growth. In her post-doctoral research at the Institute for Biomechanics in ETHZurich, she used synchrotron CT imaging to investigate the intracortical porosity of osteogenesis imperfecta bone.  In 2010 she was awarded the prestigious Global Research Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering and went as postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to investigate the fracture mechanics of brittle bone. After she returned to Imperial College as BBSRC Research Associate to examine mechano-adaptation during ageing. Before joining CCNY, she was Assistant Professor at Florida Institute of Technology for 3 years. She is interested in combining modelling and imaging with experimental work in order to understand the relationship between bone structure, composition, shape and function.

Dr. Carriero received several international recognitions for her innovative and outstanding research in the field of biomedical engineering, including the prestigious Sir George Macfarlane Award from The Royal Academy of Engineering in 2012, the John Haddad and the Harold Frost Awards both from the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research in 2016, and a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation in 2017.  Her current research is sponsored by National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, The Human Frontier Science Program Organization and International Hip Dysplasia Institute. Dr. Carriero is member of several international professional societies. She served as a Member-at-Large in the Board of Directors of the Orthopaedic Research Society, and is serving as an expert reviewer for the Diamond Light Source in UK, and as a Member of the Board of the Fellows of Politecnico di Milano.US.