About

Professor Christine Ortiz is a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. Her research focuses on structural or load-bearing biological materials, particularly musculoskeletal tissues such as articular cartilage, bone, and intervertebral disc, as well as exoskeletal structures including natural flexible armor, transparent armor, and armor for biochemical toxin resistance, kinetic attacks, thermal regulation, and blast dissipation. She employs expertise in nanomechanics to study these materials, involving the measurement and prediction of extremely small forces and displacements, quantification of nanoscale spatially-varying mechanical properties, and the formulation of molecular-level structure-property relationships. Her work employs novel experimental and theoretical methods across multiple scales, from individual molecules to intact tissue, with the ultimate goal of achieving a fundamental, mechanistic understanding of tissue function, quality, and pathology. Her research has significant implications for medical and engineering fields, including advancements in tissue repair, replacement, and treatment of diseases such as osteoarthritis, as well as the development of biologically inspired structural engineering materials and protective technologies that exhibit 'mechanical property amplification'.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Physics
• Nanotechnology
• Engineering
• Materials science
• Political Science
• Public relations
• Mathematics
• Simulation
• Particle physics
• Structural engineering
• Optics
• Nuclear physics
• Astrophysics
• Knowledge management
• Engineering ethics

Selected publications

• Racial Inequities in Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes in South Jersey

  Rowan Digitals Works (Rowan University) · 2026-05-06

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality remain a persistent public health issue in the United States, with Black non-hispanic women experiencing a 2.4 to 3.3 greater risk of pregnancy-related complications compared to their white counterparts. In New Jersey, these disparities are similarly pronounced, with severe maternal morbidity occurring at more than twice the rate among non-Hispanic Black mothers. These inequities extend beyond maternal outcomes and contribute to adverse infant health outcomes, including stillbirth, preterm birth, and low birth weight. This study was conducted using databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar, as well as public health sources including the New Jersey Department of Health and the March of Dimes. Key search terms included “maternal health,” “maternal mortality,” “birth outcomes in NJ,” and “pregnancy complications.” Results indicate that stillbirth rates are highest among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic mothers in New Jersey. Contributing risk factors include placental abruption, eclampsia, diabetes mellitus, and lack of prenatal care. Additionally, geographic barriers such as increased distance to maternity care facilities in Southern New Jersey were associated with higher risks of maternal morbidity. These same factors were linked to increased rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, and infant mortality. These disparities are rooted in systemic inequities, including limited access to healthcare, inadequate education, and insufficient social support. The intersection of race and gender amplifies these risks, underscoring the need for targeted interventions. A proposed solution includes developing a resource guide to spread awareness on existing resources and organizations dedicated to improve patient access to healthcare services.

  PublisherOA PDF

• The Paint It Red Philosophy

  Productivity Press eBooks · 2025-11-14

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Are quantum materials economically and environmentally sustainable?

  Materials Today · 2025-10-07 · 3 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Technological Models as Object Lessons of Agitation: Multiscale Materiality and Agency of Sand Filtration in an Industrial City, 1895

  Technology and Culture · 2025-07-01

  articleSenior author

  How might forces and interactions at the surface of sand particles contribute to material agency with tangible impact on human life? This article explores the multiscale materiality of a technological model and how it catalyzed social action and influenced the development of larger-scale municipal infrastructure systems. It focuses on a demonstration sand filter constructed through civic engagement in Pittsburgh in 1895. This locally embedded community technology, situated in international networks of scientific knowledge, served as a practical "object lesson" in abstract principles of sanitation engineering-publicly demonstrating and validating the counterintuitive ability of local sand and gravel to purify city water. By bridging materials science and engineering with histories of technology, this study contributes to discourses on new materialism by identifying nonhuman agency at the nano- and micrometer scale and tracing its implications for public health, civic identity, and infrastructure design.

  PublisherDOI

• Supporting clinical competency in managing peripherally inserted central catheters during the COVID-19 pandemic: an education evaluation

  British Journal of Nursing · 2023-01-26 · 3 citations

  article

  INTRODUCTION: Hospitals had to create new practices and training due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. An increase in patient acuity and the need for peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) across the hospital required an urban community hospital to educate and support in-patient nurses to manage PICCs in acute and complex care units. Traditionally, these skills were performed by specialized registered nurses (RNs) from the Vascular Access Team (VAT). This paper highlights the education plan, implementation, and evaluation of a hospital-wide training for RNs and registered practical nurses (RPNs) in in-patient units during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. METHODS: Clinical Resource Leaders (CRLs) created a modular approach to upskill existing nurses and train new hires. Various education strategies, such as the use of competency assessments, creating practice supports, and incorporating specialists as a resource, were utilized to ensure knowledge transfer, application, and guidance of evidence-informed clinical practices. Vascular Access Team documentation was utilized to obtain Kirkpatrick's (2021) level 4 evaluation. RESULTS: This training program was implemented after the second wave of the pandemic and was also embedded into nursing orientation. This structured approach ensured that nurses were competent to support the increased acuity and needs of patients. Eighty percent of full-time and part-time nurses were trained to manage PICC lines. CONCLUSION: Education evaluation results show a decrease in PICC-related VAT assistance requests with a baseline of 570 calls down to 149 six months after education was implemented. Leaders are encouraged to ensure teams have role clarity, policies, and practice supports to be successful.

  PublisherDOI

• Sustainability-Driven Exploration of Topological Material

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2023-08-18 · 3 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Topological materials are at the forefront of quantum materials research, offering tremendous potential for next-generation energy and information devices. However, current investigation of these materials remains largely focused on performance and often neglects the crucial aspect of sustainability. Recognizing the pivotal role of sustainability in addressing global pollution, carbon emissions, resource conservation, and ethical labor practices, we present a comprehensive evaluation of topological materials based on their sustainability and environmental impact. Our approach involves a hierarchical analysis encompassing cost, toxicity, energy demands, environmental impact, social implications, and resilience to imports. By applying this framework to over 16,000 topological materials, we establish a sustainable topological materials database. Our endeavor unveils environmental-friendly topological materials candidates which have been previously overlooked, providing insights into their environmental ramifications and feasibility for industrial scalability. The work represents a critical step toward industrial adoption of topological materials, offering the potential for significant technological advancements and broader societal benefits.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Poroelastic behavior and water permeability of human skin at the nanoscale

  PNAS Nexus · 2023-08-01 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  Topical skin care products and hydrating compositions (moisturizers or injectable fillers) have been used for years to improve the appearance of, for example facial wrinkles, or to increase "plumpness". Most of the studies have addressed these changes based on the overall mechanical changes associated with an increase in hydration state. However, little is known about the water mobility contribution to these changes as well as the consequences to the specific skin layers. This is important as the biophysical properties and the biochemical composition of normal stratum corneum, epithelium, and dermis vary tremendously from one another. Our current studies and results reported here have focused on a novel approach (dynamic atomic force microscopy-based nanoindentation) to quantify biophysical characteristics of individual layers of ex vivo human skin. We have discovered that our new methods are highly sensitive to the mechanical properties of individual skin layers, as well as their hydration properties. Furthermore, our methods can assess the ability of these individual layers to respond to both compressive and shear deformations. In addition, since human skin is mechanically loaded over a wide range of deformation rates (frequencies), we studied the biophysical properties of skin over a wide frequency range. The poroelasticity model used helps to quantify the hydraulic permeability of the skin layers, providing an innovative method to evaluate and interpret the impact of hydrating compositions on water mobility of these different skin layers.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Large low background kTon-scale liquid argon time projection chambers

  Journal of Physics G Nuclear and Particle Physics · 2023 · 15 citations

  • Physics
  • Nuclear physics
  • Particle physics

  Abstract We find that it is possible to increase sensitivity to low energy physics in a third or fourth Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE)-like module with careful controls over radiopurity and targeted modifications to a detector similar to the DUNE Far Detector design. In particular, sensitivity to supernova and solar neutrinos can be enhanced with improved MeV-scale reach. A neutrinoless double beta decay search with 136 Xe loading appears feasible. Furthermore, sensitivity to Weakly-Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) Dark Matter becomes competitive with the planned world program in such a detector, offering a unique seasonal variation detection that is characteristic of the nature of WIMPs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Socially‐Directed Development of Materials for Structural Color

  Advanced Materials · 2022 · 46 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Political Science
  • Engineering ethics

  Advancing a socially-directed approach to materials research and development is an imperative to address contemporary challenges and mitigate future detrimental environmental and social impacts. This paper reviews, synergizes, and identifies cross-disciplinary opportunities at the intersection of materials science and engineering with humanistic social sciences fields. Such integrated knowledge and methodologies foster a contextual understanding of materials technologies embedded within, and impacting broader societal systems, thus informing decision making upstream and throughout the entire research and development process toward more socially responsible outcomes. Technological advances in the development of structural color, which arises due to the incoherent and coherent scattering of micro-and nanoscale features and possesses a vast design space, are considered in this context. Specific areas of discussion include material culture, narratives, and visual perception, material waste and use, environmental and social life cycle assessment, and stakeholder and community engagement. A case study of the technical and social implications of bio-based cellulose (as a source for structurally colored products) is provided. Socially-directed research and development of materials for structural color hold significant capacity for improved planetary and societal impact across industries such as aerospace, consumer products, displays and sensors, paints and dyes, and food and agriculture.

  PublisherDOI

• Community Health Worker Program Sustainability in Africa: Evidence From Costing, Financing, and Geospatial Analyses in Mali

  Global Health Science and Practice · 2021-03-15 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: In Mali, community health workers (CHWs) deliver essential community care (ECC) to rural populations. The dominance of external funding for the program threatens the sustainability of this critical workforce as donor financing decreases. This article summarizes results of analyses aimed at assisting Mali's decision makers and leaders in initiating a transition to a sustainable CHW program supported by domestic funding through strategic and rational investment. METHODS: Data on ECC implementation norms, workforce, coverage, utilization, cost, and geospatial features were collected between 2016 and 2019. The data informed interlinked CHW financing analyses-situational, services costing, efficiency, and geospatial mapping. Analysis showed distribution of reported expenditures, estimates of required CHW funding, cost-saving options, and spatially visualized discrepancies between spending estimates and normative costs. RESULTS: Thirteen financing sources contributed to CHW program expenditures, 88% of which were from international donors, for a package of 23 curative, preventive, and promotive interventions. In 2015, the CHW program spent US$13.01 million; an estimated US$8.36 million would have been needed to achieve the same service volume under standard care protocols. Medicines and start-up training had US$6.88 million more than needed; supervision, program management, and recurrent training components were underfunded by US$2.2 million. Cost-saving opportunities of US$6.16 million were identified in 41 of 44 districts. Funding reallocation opportunities (after meeting technical efficiency requirements) were identified in 20 of 44 districts (US$2.56 million). Use of geospatial targeting and mapping suggests district- and village-level reallocation options for theoretical funding surpluses. CONCLUSION: CHW costs can be significantly reduced without sacrificing service technical quality. Spending can be geographically targeted to optimize service use by rural populations. Efficiency analyses provide evidence to build stronger engagement, support improved decision making, efficiently prioritize resources, and target investments for sustainable financing of CHW programs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• The Role of Genetic Modifications, Age and Exercise on Cartilage Biomechanics using Genetically Engineered Mice

  NSF · $399k · 2015–2020

• Nanomechanics of Cartilage Extracellular Matrix Macromolecules from Aged, Diseased, and Engineered Tissues

  NSF · $300k · 2008–2012

• PECASE: Molecular Design and Nanomechanical Testing of High-Toughness Biomimetic Polymeric Systems

  NSF · $411k · 2001–2007

• SusChEM: Material and Morphometric Control of Bacterial Cellulose via Genetic Engineering, Post-Processing and 3D-Printed Molding

  NSF · $390k · 2015–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Alan J. Grodzinsky

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  57 shared

• Mary C. Boyce

  Columbia University

  40 shared

• Lin Han

  Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography

  40 shared

• Delphine Dean

  Clemson University

  24 shared

• Hadi T. Nia

  19 shared

• Anna Plaas

  Rush University Medical Center

  16 shared

• Ling Li

  Zhongda Hospital Southeast University

  12 shared

• Eliot H. Frank

  11 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1996

• M.S., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1992

• B.S., Materials Science and Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1990

Awards & honors

• 2023 Teaching with Digital Technology Award, MIT
• 2008 Hadassah Appreciation Medal and Lady Davis Fellow, Hebr…
• 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award, MIT
• 2008 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship
• 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engi…