Dr. Lisa Pruitt

Biography

Professor Lisa Pruitt is a distinguished professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research centers on the structure-property relationships in orthopedic tissues and biomaterials, specifically focusing on medical polymers. Current projects she is involved in assess fatigue fracture mechanisms and tribological performance of orthopedic biomaterials. She employs surface modifications using plasma chemistry to optimize polymers for medical applications, with a specific focus on wear and fatigue under multiaxial loading. Additionally, Pruitt works on characterizing the degradation of orthopedic implants in vivo under physiological loading. Her laboratory techniques include scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), finite element modeling (FEM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), ultra-small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and various mechanical testing methods. Her work has been supported by significant grants from NIH, NSF, ONR, DARPA, and industry. Pruitt also has pedagogical experience that includes curriculum development in mechanical engineering and bioengineering with teaching responsibilities across several undergraduate and graduate courses.

Research Interests

Courses