Kathryn S. Stok
The University of MelbourneAustralia
Biography
Dr. Kathryn Stok, Fellow of the institution of Engineers Australia (FIEAust), is a Senior Lecturer of Mechanobiology in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and an innovative biomedical engineer in quantitative microstructural imaging (micro-computed tomography) and biomechanics of cartilage and joint structures. She uses a variety of experimental and computational approaches. Her research work merges solid engineering approaches with biomedical advancement.
She was awarded a Ph.D. from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2008. This work involved devising novel imaging and mechanical platforms for quantitative measurement of articular cartilage. In 2008, Dr. Stok founded the Integrative Cartilage Research (ICR) Group at ETH Zurich, establishing industrial and clinical collaboration, winning four consortium grants, and multiple subcontracts in quantitative mechanobiology around the themes of microstructural imaging of biological tissues and organs, and characterization (mechanical and structural) of regenerative medicine materials and tissue engineered constructs.
In September 2016, Dr. Stok took up a position at the University of Melbourne to continue this work. She aims to improve mechanobiological measurement and control methods using novel imaging, mechanics, and computational modeling. This involves the development of novel, in vivo, imaging-based measurement technologies for hard and soft biological tissues in 3D at different length scales. It will further enable investigation of joint health, with commercial potential in imaging, mechanobiology and biofabrication, and translation into Medtech patents and spinoffs. She heads the Integrative Cartilage Research Group, and is a co-founder of the Melbourne School of Engineering Mechanobiology Lab in the Parkville Biomedical Precinct: www.integrativecartilageresearchgroup.com.
Fields of Interest
- Cartilage
- Bone
- Imaging
- Micro-computed Tomography
- Mechanics
- Matrix