Grants
Dr. Majid Jadidi Receives NSRI FundingÂ
Dr. Majid Jadidi received $100,000 in funding from the Nebraska Research Initiative for a collaborative project with Dr. Ann Anderson Berry, Neonatology Division Chief at Children’s Nebraska, and Dr. Ling Li, Assistant Professor at the UNMC Department of Pediatrics. The project, titled "Vascular Biomechanics in Pregnancy: Integrating Biomechanical Insights for Better Diagnostics and Clinical Management of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy," focuses on the biomechanics of uteroplacental vessel remodeling during pregnancy. This research aims to provide novel mechanistic insights into hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, such as pre-eclampsia, and develop cost-effective strategies for early detection and better clinical management, addressing a critical need in maternal and infant health.
Dr. Kaspars Maleckis Receives NIH GrantÂ
This dual-phase R61/R33 research project focuses on the early-stage development and preclinical testing of novel mechanically biomimetic vascular grafts. The project is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute under the Catalyze program, which was created to support medical product development and commercialization. To tackle the challenging task of vascular graft development, Dr. Maleckis is teaming up with multidisciplinary experts, including Dr. Anastasia Desyatova and Dr. Alexey Kamenskiy from the Biomechanics Department at UNO, Dr. Jason MacTaggart from the Surgery Department at UNMC, and the UNeMed technology transfer & commercialization office. In the R61 phase, Dr. Maleckis and his team are currently performing the early development and optimization of the vascular graft prototypes and preliminary in-vivo testing. Progressing to the R33 phase, their focus will shift towards partnering with an industry accelerator to navigate regulatory pathways and expedite commercial deployment of these novel devices.Student Receives NSF Graduate FellowshipÂ
Undergraduate student Libby Caldwell receives prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowship, which will fund her doctoral studies working with Dr. Kaspars Maleckis, a junior investigator for CRiB.Publications
Publications
- Dr. Majid Jadidi published a peer-reviewed science article in the Nature Scientific Reports Journal title "Variations in stiffness and structure of the human aorta along its length". In this manuscript, they performed a comprehensive analysis of the human aorta from thoracic to distal abdominal regions to quantify location-specific differences in mechanical stiffness, wall structure, and geometry using biaxial testing, histology, and constitutive modeling, revealing progressive stiffening, elastin degradation, and morphometric adaptaion along the aoric length.
- Shahbad, Ramin, Madihah Kazim, Sayed Ahmadreza Razian, Anastasia Desyatova, and Majid Jadidi. "Variations in stiffness and structure of the human aorta along its length." Scientific Reports 15, no. 1 (2025): 11120.
- Dr. Majid Jadidi published a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials (JMBBM) on the mechanical, structural, and morphological differences in the iliac arteries. In this research, they carried out a detailed analysis of the biomechanical and structural properties of the human iliac arteries. By examining vessels from the same donor, their work presents a detailed insight into the distinct characteristics of different iliac artery segments, aiming to elucidate the underlying mechanisms influencing various vascular pathologies.
- Kazim, Madihah, et al. "Mechanical, structural, and morphological differences in the iliac arteries." Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials (2024): 106535
- Dr. Majid Jadidi published a peer-reviewed science article in the Acta Mechanica Journal titled “An Optimized Differential Evolution Algorithm for Constitutive Model Fitting of Arteries”. In this manuscript, they describe an optimized constitutive model fitting routine based on the Differential Evolution (DE) Algorithm and Minkowski and Chebyshev Distance functions.
- Razian, Sayed Ahmadreza, and Majid Jadidi. "An optimized differential evolution algorithm for constitutive model fitting of arteries." Acta Mechanica (2024): 1-26.
- Dr. Jadidi published a peer-reviewed article in the journal Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology titled “Differential Effects of Demographics and Risk Factors on the Nonlinear Orthotropic Mechanical Properties of Human Femoropopliteal Arteries”. In this study, they used mechanical testing, constitutive modeling, and machine learning on 450 human arteries to quantify how demographics and risk factors influence vascular stiffness. The findings provide a foundation for subject-specific vascular modeling to improve treatment strategies for peripheral artery disease.
- Jadidi, Majid, et al. "Differential effects of demographics and risk factors on the nonlinear orthotropic mechanical properties of human femoropopliteal arteries." Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology (2025): 1-25.
Presentations & Talks
Conferences
Dr. Jadidi’s team presented their research at the Summer Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference (SB3C). June 11-14, 2024, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Dr. Jadidi presented an abstract at the 19th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering (CMBBE). July 30 – August 1, 2024, Vancouver, Canada.
Talks
Dr. Jadidi presented a talk on “Biomechanics of Aging Human Arteries” at University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, January 2025
Dr. Jadidi gave a talk on “Adult-to-Pediatric Translation in Cardiovascular Biomechanics” at the Child Health Research Institute (CHRI) Pediatric Heart & Vascular Diseases Mini Research Summit, January 2024
Dr. Jadidi presented a talk on “Elastic Fiber Remodeling in the Human Femoropopliteal Artery with Aging and Sex” at Elastin, Elastic Fibers and Microfibrils Gordon Research Conference, July 2025