Biography

After earning a MS degree in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Memphis (1998) where he investigated the mechanical properties of orthopaedic biomaterials, Dr. Jeff Nyman did his dissertation research (PhD) in Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Davis simulating the mechanical adaptation of bone to orthopaedic implants and drug therapy while working in the Research Laboratory of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. As a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Texas at San Antonio (2003 – 2006), he returned to the mechanical testing of materials and became interested in the contribution of matrix hydration to the post-yield properties of bone. In 2006, he moved with Dr. Greg Mundy from San Antonio to Nashville and helped launch the Vanderbilt Center for Biology (VCBB). In 2022, he became the director of VCBB.

The goals of Dr. Nyman's research are i) to lower the number of bone fractures associated with diabetes, aging, osteoporosis, cancer, and genetic diseases and ii) to prevent delays in union (or non-union) when fractures do occur in patients with these co-morbidities. Towards that end, his research team investigates ways to improve the clinical assessment of fracture risk and to identify regulators of bone toughness (lack of brittleness). Specifically, there are active projects i) to determine whether matrix-bound water and pore water, as determined by 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, can explain age- and diabetes-related decreases in bone’s resistance to fracture, ii) to identify the determinants of matrix-bound water, iii) to develop a Raman Spectroscopy technique that provides clinical assessment of bone quality, and iv) to validate pre-clinical models of severe injuries that causes known clinical problems in the repair of musculoskeletal tissue.