Welcome to the Bersi Lab

We are located in the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at Washington University in St. Louis. Our research is focused on soft tissue biomechanics and mechanobiology.

Using techniques that range from ex vivo tissue testing and mechanical characterization to in vitro cell culture and molecular biology, the ongoing research in the Bersi Lab is generally focused on understanding how alterations in a tissue’s mechanical environment can lead to changes in cellular and molecular activity that promote immune activation, tissue remodeling, and fibrosis. While focused primarily on cardiovascular disease, this multiscale approach has applicability to understanding injury and disease processes in multiple tissues and organ systems.

We aim to better define the intersection between soft tissue biomechanics, molecular biology, and immunology with the ultimate goal of evaluating tissue-specific immunotherapeutic treatment strategies.


Recent News

Bersi Wins Collaboration Initiation Grant

Matthew Bersi, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, is collaborating with Xiaowei Li, assistant professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, to study the biological factors that influence the risk of uterine rupture after cesarean sections. Since scarring from C-sections can weaken the uterus and increase the risk of rupture during […]

Bersi Lab Will be at the ASME SB3C Summer Bioengineering Conference

We’re thrilled to share that several members of our lab will be presenting their work at ASME SB3C 2025, taking place from June 22nd to 26th in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM. Below is the list of talks from our group—join us and learn about our latest research! • Reproductive Biomechanics Session I – Mon. 06.23.2025, […]

Announcement: Editors’ Choice Paper – 2025 Richard Skalak Award

We are pleased to share that our recent paper titled: “Primary Mouse Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells Exhibit Region- and Sex-Dependent Biological Responses In Vitro”https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4064965 has been selected as an Editor’s Choice Paper in the 2025 Richard Skalak Award best paper competition. The Skalak Award, presented annually by the ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, honors the […]