Research Overview

Pregnancy stands at the interface of mechanics and biology. The Pregnancy Research & Engineering Group focuses on understanding how soft tissues grow, remodel, and adapt during pregnancy. Specifically, we are interested in how hormonal and mechanical signaling interact to drive this critical process to support a healthy pregnancy. We use a combination of experimental and computational approaches from biomechanics and computational systems biology to understand these interactions.

We currently focus on the growth and remodeling of the pregnant patient's heart and uterus. We aim to help reduce the rates of heart problems during pregnancy and preterm birth by first understanding pregnancy, then applying our knowledge to develop and guide new therapies to diagnose and treat pregnancy-related complications.

Lab website

Education

• BS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, 2008
• MS, Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, 2010
• PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, 2016
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Virginia, 2016-2021

Selected Publications

• Yoshida, K., & Holmes, J. W. (2020). Computational models of cardiac hypertrophy. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 159, 75-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2020.07.001
• Yoshida, K., McCulloch, A. D., Omens, J. H., & Holmes, J. W. (2020). Computational model of left ventricular growth reversal following release of pressure overload. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 19(3):1079-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-019-01271-w
• Yoshida, K., Jayyosi, C., Lee, N., Mahendroo, M., & Myers, K. M. (2019). Mechanics of cervical remodelling: Insights from rodent models of pregnancy. Interface Focus, 9(5). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2019.0026
• Nallasamy, S., Yoshida, K., Akins, M., Myers, K. M., Iozzo, R., & Mahendroo, M. (2017). Steroid hormones are key modulators of tissue mechanical function via regulation of collagen and elastic fibers. Endocrinology, 158(4), 950–962. https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2016-1930
• Yoshida, K., Mahendroo, M., Vink, J., Wapner, R., & Myers, K. M. (2016). Material properties of mouse cervical tissue in normal gestation. Acta Biomaterialia, 36, 195–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2016.03.005
• Yoshida, K., Jiang, H., Kim, M., Vink, J. Y., Cremers, S., Paik, D., Wapner, R., Mahendroo, M., & Myers, K. M. (2014). Quantitative evaluation of collagen crosslinks and corresponding tensile mechanical properties in mouse cervical tissue during normal pregnancy. PLoS ONE, 9(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112391