Wagenseil lab group photo, 2025 - ten lab members, including Dr. Jessica Wagenseil, standing together in front of a metal wall sculpture. Wagenseil lab group photo, 2025 - ten lab members, including Dr. Jessica Wagenseil, standing together in front of a metal wall sculpture.
Busy café terrace with blue umbrellas on a sunny plaza facing the Gothic facade of Reims Cathedral, host city of the 2024 European Elastin Meeting. Busy café terrace with blue umbrellas on a sunny plaza facing the Gothic facade of Reims Cathedral, host city of the 2024 European Elastin Meeting.
Thomas Barker, Dawn Beraud, Jason Marvin, Brian Aguado, and Jessica Wagenseil stand together in front of a slide for the AIMBE Breakfast Roundtable on advocacy in biomedical engineering at the 2025 ASMB Biennial Meeting in Baltimore Thomas Barker, Dawn Beraud, Jason Marvin, Brian Aguado, and Jessica Wagenseil stand together in front of a slide for the AIMBE Breakfast Roundtable on advocacy in biomedical engineering at the 2025 ASMB Biennial Meeting in Baltimore

Wagenseil Vascular Mechanics Laboratory

Welcome to the Wagenseil Vascular Mechanics Laboratory. We focus on the mechanical behavior of large, elastic arteries during development and disease. We are interested in how the arterial wall remodels to maintain appropriate mechanical properties for heart function.

About Prof. Jessica Wagenseil

My research seeks to advance our understanding of vascular mechanics, specifically the interplaybetween the mechanical properties of (biomechanics) and the effects of mechanical forces on(mechanobiology) the large, elastic arteries, such as the aorta. Advances in vascular biomechanicsand mechanobiology are critical to diagnose, prevent, and treat diseases that cause narrowing,dilation, or stiffening of the aorta, including supravalvular aortic stenosis, thoracic aorticaneurysms, and hypertension.

Jessica Wagenseil Jessica Wagenseil

About the Lab

Researcher in vascular biomechanics and mechanobiology that has been funded by NIH, NSF, and private foundations. Dedicated department, school, and university citizen with extensive service and leadership in research administration, faculty advancement, and equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Excised mouse aorta showing the ascending arch and descending thoracic segments Excised mouse aorta showing the ascending arch and descending thoracic segmentsPressure myograph setup used in the lab to test the mechanical behavior of mouse arteries Pressure myograph setup used in the lab to test the mechanical behavior of mouse arteriesStained cross-section of an aortic wall showing concentric elastic lamellae Stained cross-section of an aortic wall showing concentric elastic lamellae

Research Focus

Biomechanics & Mechanobiology

The laboratory examines how mechanobiology and biomechanics of the large arteries contribute to normal cardiovascular function during development and abnormal function in disease.

Biomedical & Biological Imaging

Research utilizes imaging and computational methods to quantify transport through the aortic wall and study cellular and extracellular matrix changes.

Biomedical, Bio-inspired, and Bio-derived Materials

Work focuses on the mechanical properties of bio-artificial tissues and designing improved protocols for building tissue-engineered blood vessels.

Cardiovascular Engineering

Studies the mechanical behavior of large, elastic arteries, focusing on cardiovascular development, extracellular matrix proteins, and microstructurally-based constitutive modeling.

Join the Wagenseil Vascular Mechanics Laboratory

The laboratory welcomes anyone interested in studying vascular biomechanics and mechanobiology in development and disease, focusing on how the mechanical behavior of large, elastic arteries contributes to normal cardiovascular function and abnormal function in disease.