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Abstract To help foster interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), it is important to develop opportunities that excite and teach young minds about STEM-related fields. Over the past several years, our university-based research group has sought to help grow excitement around the biomechanics and biomedical engineering fields. The purposes of this technical brief are to (1) discuss the development of a partnership built between a St. Louis area high school and biomechanics research lab and (2) provide practical guidance for other researchers looking to implement a long-term outreach program. The partnership uses three different outreach opportunities. The first opportunity consisted of 12th-grade students visiting university research labs for an up-close perspective of ongoing biomedical research. The second opportunity was a biomedical research showcase where research-active graduate students traveled to the high school to perform demonstrations. The third opportunity consisted of a collaborative capstone project where a high school student was able to carry out research directly in a university lab. To date, we have expanded our reach from 19 students to interacting with over 100 students, which has yielded increased interest in STEM related research. Our postprogram survey showed that outreach programs such as the one described herein can increase interest in STEM within all ages of high school students. Building partnerships between high schools and university researchers increases the interest in STEM amongst high school students, and gives graduate students an outlet to present work to an eager-to-learn audience. 

Collagen is a major structural component of nearly every tissue in the human body, whose hierarchical organization imparts specific mechanical properties and defines overall tissue function. Collagenous soft tissues are dynamic structures that are in a constant state of remodeling but are also prone to damage and pathology. Optical techniques are uniquely suited for imaging collagen in these dynamic situations as they allow for non-invasive monitoring with relatively high spatiotemporal resolution. This review presents an overview of common collagen dynamic processes associated with human health and disease and optical imaging approaches that are uniquely suited for monitoring, sensing, and diagnosing these changes. This review aims to 1) provide researchers with an understanding of the underlying optical properties of collagen that can be leveraged for extracellular matrix visualization and 2) present emerging opportunities for machine learning approaches to drive multiscale and multimodality solutions. 

Abstract Skeletal muscle activation using optogenetics has emerged as a promising technique for inducing noninvasive muscle contraction and assessing muscle function both in vivo and in vitro. Transgenic mice overexpressing the optogenetic fusion protein, Channelrhodopsin 2‐EYFP (ChR2‐EYFP) in skeletal muscle are widely used; however, overexpression of fluorescent proteins can negatively impact the functionality of activable tissues. In this study, we characterized the contractile properties of ChR2‐EYFP skeletal muscle and introduced the ChR2‐only mouse model that expresses light‐responsive ChR2 without the fluorescent EYFP in their skeletal muscles. We found a significant reduction in the contractile ability of ChR2‐EYFP muscles compared with ChR2‐only and WT mice, observed under both electrical and optogenetic stimulation paradigms. Bulk RNAseq identified the downregulation of genes associated with transmembrane transport and metabolism in ChR2‐EYFP muscle, while the ChR2‐only muscle did not demonstrate any notable deviations from WT muscle. The RNAseq results were further corroborated by a reduced protein‐level expression of ion channel‐related HCN2 in ChR2‐EYFP muscles and gluconeogenesis‐modulating FBP2 in both ChR2‐EYFP and ChR2‐only muscles. Overall, this study reveals an intrinsic skeletal dysfunction in the widely used ChR2‐EYFP mice model and underscores the importance of considering alternative optogenetic models, such as the ChR2‐only, for future research in skeletal muscle optogenetics.