Professor Damien Lacroix
Professor of Mechanobiology
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Telephone: +44(0)114 2220156
Email: d.lacroix@sheffield.ac.uk
Profile
Damien Lacroix is Professor of Mechanobiology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He has a first degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Applied Science (INSA Lyon, France) and a PhD in Biomechanics from Trinity College Dublin.
After a post-doc in 2001 in Toulouse (France) for Smith and Nephew at the Purpan Hospital, he was awarded a Marie-Curie TMR EU fellowship in 2002 and a Ramon y Cajal senior fellowship in 2004 at the Technical University of Catalonia (Spain). In 2008 he was appointed Group Leader of Biomechanics and Mechanobiology at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (Spain). Damien joined the Department in 2012 when he took a Chair in Biomedical Engineering within the INSIGNEO research institute.
Other professional activities and achievements
- President of the European Society of Biomechanics
- Council Member of the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science (EAMBES)
- Editorial Board member of Biomaterials, Journal of Biomechanics and Clinical Biomechanics
- 2010 Jean Leray Award from the European Society of Biomaterials
- 2006 City Award of Barcelona in Technology Research for the development of a new injectable porous material based on calcium phosphate
- Recipient of European Research Council Starting Grant in 2011
Research Areas
Professor Lacroix's research covers bone mechanobiology (bone tissue engineering, bone distraction, fracture healing) and spine biomechanics (mechanobiology of disc degeneration, disc angiogenesis, disc implant analysis).
The focus of his research group is the study of the effect of mechanical stimuli on biological response. The group's objective is to make scientific advancements in simulations of in vitro and in vivo biomechanics and mechanobiology and in experimental in vitro mechanobiology. The current focus of the group is mainly on the development of simulations in spine biomechanics, tissue engineering and cell mechanics. These numerical simulations based on the finite element method are complemented with in vitro tests using bioreactors and microfluid chambers.
Research Projects
- Development of a predictive computational platform for disc degenration
- Simulation of a biological / biomaterials interactions in tissue engineering
- Simulation of bone fracture healing
- Modelling of cell mechanics
- Study of cell adhesion
- Microfluidic study of fluid shear stresses
- Implant prothesis design
Teaching
Prof. Lacroix supervises final year undergraduate and MSc projects.
Current Research Grants
- European Research Council Starting Grant, MECHANOBIO - 'Finite element simulations of mechanobiology in tissue engineering', 10/2011-09/2016. €1,492,000.
- European Commission, FP7 ICT 269909, MySpine - 'Functional prognosis simulation of patient-specific spinal treatment for clinical use', 03/2011-02/2014. €680,000.
- European Commission, FP7 NMP3-LA-2008-213904, DISC REGENERATION - 'Novel biofunctional highly porous polymer scaffolds and techniques controlling angiogenesis for the regenration and repair of the degenerated intervertebral disc', 11/2008-10/2012. €348,000.
- European Commission, FP7 NMP3-LA-2008-214402, ANGIOSCAFF - 'Angiogensis-inducing bioactive and bioresponsive scaffolds in tissue engineering', 12/2008-11/2012. €485,120.
Selected Publications
Full list of publications available on Research ID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/G-3230-2010
Publications in the last three years:
- Simulation of cell seeding within a 3D porous scaffold: A fluid-particle analysis,
Olivares, A. L. & Lacroix, D. (2012),
Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods, In press.
Available online - Regional annulus fibre orientations used as a tool for the calibration of lumbar intervertebral disc finite element models,
Malandrino, A., Noailly, J. & Lacroix, D. (2012),
Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, In press.
Available online - In silico evaluation of a new composite disc substitute with a L3-L5 lumbar spine finite element model,
Noailly, J., Ambrosio, L., Tanner, K. E., Planell, J. A. & Lacroix, D. (2012),
European Spine Journal, In press.
Available online - Finite element analysis of donning procedure of a prosthetic transfemoral socket,
Lacroix, D. & Ramirez Patin, J. F. (2011),
Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 39(12), pp. 2972-2983.
Available online - The effect of sustained compression on oxygen matabolic transport in the intervertebral disc decreases with degenerative changes,
Malandrino, A., Noailly, J. & Lacroix, D. (2011)
PLOS Computational Biology, 7(8), pp. 1-12.
Available online - Comparison of four methods to simulate swelling in poroelastic finite element models of intervertebral discs,
Galbusera, F., Schmidt, H., Noailly, J., Malandrino, A., Lacroix, D., Wilke, H. J., & Shirazi-adl, A. (2011),
Journal of Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 4(7), pp. 1234-1241.
Available online - Simulation of fracture healing in the tibia: Machanoregulation of cell activity using a lattice modelling approach,
Byrne, D. P., Lacroix, D. & Prendergast, P. J. (2011),
Journal of Orthapaedic Research, 29(10), pp. 1496-1503.
Available online - A dynamical study of the mechanical stimuli and tissue differentiation within a CaP scaffold based on micro-CT finite element models,
Sandino, C. & Lacroix, D. (2011),
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 10(4), pp. 465-476
Available online - On the collagen criss-cross angles in the annuli fibrosi of lumbar spine finite element models,
Noailly, J., Planell, J. A. & Lacroix, D. (2011),
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 10(2), pp. 203-219
Available online - The influence of the scaffold design on the distribution of adhering cells after perfusion cell seeding,
Melchels, F., Tonnarelli, B., Olivares, A., Martin, I., Lacroix, D., Feijen, J., Wendt, D. & Grijpma, D. (2011),
Biomaterials, 32(11), pp. 2878-2884
Available online - Deciphering the link between architecture and biological response of a bone graft substitute,
Bohner, M., Loosli, Y., Baroud, G. & Lacroix, D. (2011),
Acta Biomateriala, 7(2), pp. 478-484.
Available online - Perfusion cell seeding on large porous PLA/calcium phosphate scaffolds in a perfusion bioreactor system under varying perfusion parameters,
Koch, M. A., Vrij, E. J., Engel, E., Planell, J. A. & Lacroix, D. (2010),
Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A, 95A(4), pp. 1011-1018.
Available online - Bioreactor based engineering of large-scale human cartilage grafts for joint restructuring,
Santoro, R., Olivares, A. L., Brans, G., Wirz, D., Longinotti, C., Lacroix, D., Martin, I. & Wendt, D. (2010),
Biomaterials, 31(34), pp. 8946-8952.
Available online - Simulation of bone tissue formation within a porous scaffold under dynamic compression,
Milan, J. L., Planell, J. A. & Lacroix, D. (2010),
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 9(5), pp. 583-596.
Available online - Simulation of angiogenesis and cell differentiation in a CaP scaffold subjected to compressive strains using a lattice modeling approach,
Sandino, C., Checa, S., Prendergast, P. J. & Lacroix, D. (2010),
Biomaterials, 31(8), pp. 2446-2452.
Available online - Statisical factorial analysis on the poroelastic material properties sensitivity of the lumbar intervertebral disc under compression, flexion and axial rotation,
Malandrino, A., Planell, J. A. & Lacroix, D. (2009),
Journal of Biomechanics, 42(16), pp. 2780-2788.
Available online - Finite element study of scaffold architecture design and culture conditions for tissue engineering,
Olivares, A. L., Marsal, E., Planell, J. A. & Lacroix, D. (2009),
Biomaterials, 30(30), pp. 6142-6149.
Available online