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photo of Dr. Raffaella De Vita

Raffaella De Vita 

Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics

Program Focus

Experimental and theoretical mechanics of nonlinear elastic, viscoelastic, and liquid crystal biological systems including tracheae, ligaments, tendons, cells, and lipid bilayers.

Selected Publications

  1. McGuire,* J., Abramowitch, S., Maiti, S., De Vita, R., Swine Vagina under Biaxial Loading: An investigations of Large Deformations and Tears, submitted for publication, 2018.
  2. Huntington,* A., Rizzuto,* E., Abramowitch, S., Del Prete, Z., De Vita, R., Anisotropy of the Passive and Active Rat Vagina under Biaxial Loading, submitted for publication, 2018.
  3. Baah-Dwomoh,* A., Alperin, M., Cook., M., De Vita, R., Mechanical Analysis of the Uterosacral Ligament: Swine versus Human, submitted for publication, 2018.
  4. Rittenhouse,* J.A., Wijeratne,* R.S., Orler, E.B., Dillard, D.A., Moore, R.B., De Vita, R., Effect of Areal Density and Fiber Orientation on Deformation of Thermomechanical Bonds in a Nonwoven Fabric, Polymer Engineering and Science (accepted for publication), 2018.
  5. Wijeratne,* R.S., De Vita, R., Rittenhouse,* J.A., Orler, E.B., Moore, R.B., Dillard, D.A., Biaxial Properties of Individual Bonds in Thermomechanically Bonded Nonwoven Fabrics, Textile Research Journal (online), 2018.
  6. Walterscheid, Z., O’Neill, C., Ochs,* A., D’Averso,* A., Dew,* C., Huntington,* A., Ma.,* G., Behrend,* C., De Vita, R., Carmouche, J., Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion Using a Local Source for Cancellous Autograft: A Biomechanical Analysis of Vertebral Body Stability in an Osteopenic Bone Model, Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation, 8:128-134, 2017.
  7. Baah-Dwomoh,* A., De Vita, R., Effect of Repeated Biaxial Loads on the Creep Properties of Cardinal Ligaments, Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 74:128-141, 2017.
  8. De Vita, R., Grange, R., Nardinocchi, P., Teresi, L., Mathematical Model for Isometric and Isotonic Muscle Contractions, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 425:1-10, 2017.
  9. Baah-Dwomoh,* A., McGuire,* J., Tan,* T., De Vita, R., Mechanical Properties of Female Reproductive Organs and Supportive Connective Tissues: A Review of the Current State of Knowledge, Applied Mechanics Reviews, 68:060801, 2016.
  10. Tan,* T., Cholewa, N. W., Case, S. W., De Vita, R., Micro-structural and Biaxial Creep Properties of the Swine Uterosacral-cardinal Ligament Complex, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 44:3225-3237, 2016.
  11. Kwansa,* A. L., De Vita, R., Freeman, J. W., Tensile Mechanical Properties of Collagen Type I Microfibrils and its Enzymatic Crosslinks, Biophysical Chemistry, 214-215:1-10, 2016.