Blue & Gold Distinguished Professor, Founding Chair, Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware

Dawn M. Elliott is an American biomedical engineer whose research concerns the biomechanics of connective tissue including the tendons, menisci, and intervertebral discs. She is Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware,[1] adjunct professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania,[2] and the former president of the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Dr. Elliott ‘s research program investigates structure-function relationships in load-bearing fiber-reinforced tissues and joints, and the associated changes that occur during development, with degeneration and injury, and following therapeutic intervention.  Dr. Elliott focuses on determining mechanical factors that contribute to the pathogenesis and progression of intervertebral disc degeneration, tendinopathy, and meniscus injury and repair.  Throughout, her approach is to develop and apply innovative technologies, including novel mechanical tests, rigorous mathematical models, and state-of-the-art imaging and analyses.