User:Ronald Y. Kwon

Spatial variation in tissue mineral density in adult zebrafish assessed using high resolution MicroCT. In collaboration with my postdoctoral advisor Ted S. Gross at University of Washington, I am currently exploring ways in which MicroCT can be used to quantitatively and non-invasively assess zebrafish skeletal structure (see image below).

File:Local erosion 3.gif

Local thickness variation in adult zebrafish vertebra. Vertebra was scanned using high resolution MicroCT and subject to a model-free algorithm for computing local thickness.

Adenylyl cyclase 6 localizes to the primary cilium in bone cells. While working in the lab of Christopher Jacobs at Stanford University, my co-authors and I found that the primary cilium, a solitary antenna-like structure once thought to be a vestigial organelle, mediates mechanosensing in bone cells via a pathway involving adenylyl cyclase 6.

During a two-year period as a NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow at the La Jolla Bioengineering Institute, I developed a microfluidic system for enhancing intramedullary pressure within the femurs of alert mice. This system simulated the pressurization that occurs during activities such as exercise and was found to potently inhibit disuse bone loss.

One question regarding the above microfluidic system was whether interstitial fluid flow was being generated via intramedullary pressurization. To assess this, I used an approach based on fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). To quantify levels of fluid flow, experimental FRAP data were fit to a computational transport model of the FRAP process (below).

Contact Information

• Ronald Y. Kwon, Ph.D.
• Senior Fellow, Orthopaedic Science Laboratory
• University of Washington
• Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
• 300 Ninth Ave. Box 359798
• Seattle, WA, 98104
• (206) 897-5608
• Email me through OpenWetWare

Curriculum Vitae

• Please click here to download my Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

While the regulation of cell function by extracellular chemical signals is a fundamental paradigm in cell biology, a growing body of investigations indicates that in addition to chemical signals, mechanical signals are critical to the proper functioning of a number of cellular processes. This has led to the emergence of a new discipline that merges mechanics and cell biology: cellular mechanobiology. Cellular mechanobiology refers to any aspect of cell biology where mechanical force is generated or sensed, leading to alterations in cellular function. The study of cellular mechanobiology bridges cell biology and biochemistry with various disciplines of mechanics, including solid, fluid, statistical, experimental, and computational mechanics.

My research interests are rooted in cellular mechanobiology and centered around two themes: 1) the use of integrated experimental approaches that merge experimentation, computation, and imaging, and 2) exploitation of the favorable experimental characteristics of zebrafish. My interests have emerged from my interdisciplinary research background studying skeletal mechanotransduction in a number of model systems, as well as my current postdoctoral work in which I am developing models of neuromuscular-mediated bone pathologies in zebrafish.

Education and Postgraduate Training

• Senior Fellow, Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, University of Washington, 01/10-current
• Postdoctoral Fellow, La Jolla Bioengineering Institute, 09/08-12/10
• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 09/05-09/08
• M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 09/03-09/05
• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California Berkeley, 08/97-05/02

Other Training

• Zebrafish Development and Genetics, Marine Biological Laboratory, 08/10

Selected Honors

• NIH National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship, 12/08-12/10
• National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, 09/03-09/06
• American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Young Investigator Award, 10/10
• Young Investigator Award, International Bone Fluid Flow Workshop, 10/10
• Best PhD Student Presentation, Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine 25th Annual Scientific Conference, 01/07
• Best PhD Student Presentation, Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine 23rd Annual Scientific Conference, 01/05
• Pfizer Inc. Endowed Scholarship to attend Zebrafish Genetics and Development Course, Marine Biological Laboratory, 08/10
• 2nd Place, PhD Student Paper Competition, 2008 ASME Summer Bioengineering Conference, 06/08
• Plenary Poster Presentation, 31st Annual American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Meeting, 09/09

Funded Projects

• “Osteocyte-independent mechanotransduction of interstitial fluid flow in bone”, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD), F32 AR056934 (PI, Total Costs: $92,428), 12/08-12/10

Publications

• Please see my Curriculum Vitae for a complete list of my peer reviewed manuscripts, conference abstracts, books, and book chapters.

Teaching

• Co-Instructor (33%), Stanford University, Mechanics of the Cell, 09/07-12/07
• Teaching Assistant, Stanford University, Mechanics of the Cell, 03/05-06/05
• Teaching Assistant, Stanford University, Orthopaedic Bioengineering, 09/04-12/04

Links

• Orthopaedic Science Laboratory
• Cell and Molecular Biomechanics Laboratory

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