Brittany Coatsمشاهده پروفایل
دانشیار
- Biomechanics
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Eye Injury
- +۵ مورد دیگر
Dr. Brittany Coats is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah, actively contributing to the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (RMCOEH). She supports the Ergonomics and Safety program through biomechanics instruction and graduate student advisory committee service, leveraging over 15 years of specialized research in traumatic brain and eye injury mechanisms. Her academic role encompasses new course development and student recruitment initiatives within the university's engineering framework. Her research program integrates experimental biomechanics with computational modeling to investigate microstructural mechanics changes across age, trauma, and disease states. Primary focus areas include pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI), vitreoretinal adhesion mechanics, skull fracture patterns in infants, and forensic biomechanics applications. Methodologically, she employs porcine tissue models, confocal microscopy, finite element analysis, and machine learning to advance injury prediction, diagnosis, and prevention strategies for vulnerable populations. Analysis of her 2022-2025 publications reveals dominant themes in infant skull biomechanics, with significant emphasis on data-driven modeling of skull thickness distributions and machine learning prediction of fall parameters from fracture patterns. Her work consistently addresses the pia-arachnoid complex's role in TBI and vitreoretinal interface mechanics in eye injury, utilizing multi-scale approaches that bridge microstructural damage progression to clinical outcomes. Key innovations include computational frameworks for simulating head rotations in pediatric populations and novel imaging techniques for collagen fiber organization. Dr. Coats has secured substantial research funding from the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and National Institute for Justice. These grants support her laboratory's investigations into traumatic injury mechanisms, with particular relevance to abusive head trauma forensics and pediatric safety. She actively mentors graduate students through committee service while developing educational content for biomechanics and safety programs. Her research laboratory operates at the intersection of mechanical engineering and clinical applications, maintaining strong ties with RMCOEH. The team focuses on translating biomechanical discoveries into practical solutions for injury prevention, with current projects examining infant skull fracture mechanics, cerebral artery damage progression, and vitreoretinal adhesion properties. This work has direct implications for forensic investigations, pediatric neurosurgery, and protective equipment design.
