About

Raffaella De Vita is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, holding the position since 2024. She previously served as a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics from 2019 to 2024, and as an Associate Professor from 2013 to 2019. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Laurea in Mathematics from the University of Naples II. Her research interests encompass reproductive mechanics, ligament and tendon mechanics, nonlinear elasticity and viscoelasticity, experimental and theoretical solid mechanics, and bio-inspired engineering. She is involved in studying soft tissue mechanics, biomaterials, biomechanics, biomedical applications, and complex systems. Dr. De Vita has received numerous awards for her leadership, teaching, outreach, and research, including the NSF CAREER Award, the PECASE Award, and fellowships from AIMBE and ASME. She has also been recognized for her contributions to access and inclusion, leadership in teaching, and outreach excellence. Her work is characterized by a focus on bioengineering and mechanics, with significant contributions to understanding the mechanical behavior of biological tissues and materials.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Biology
• Materials science
• Anatomy
• Andrology
• Composite material
• Biomedical engineering
• Physiology
• Food science
• Animal science
• Computer Science
• Medical physics
• Mechanical engineering
• Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Endocrinology
• Internal medicine
• Gynecology

Selected publications

• Label-Free Structural and Mechanical Characterization of Rat Uterosacral Ligaments

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Label-free structural and mechanical characterization of rat uterosacral ligaments

  Acta Biomaterialia · 2025-08-27 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Pressure-induced circumferential and longitudinal deformations of tracheal tubes in the American cockroach

  Journal of Experimental Biology · 2025-10-27

  articleSenior author

  Insects exchange gases through a complex internal network of tubes known as tracheae, which deliver oxygen directly to tissues and remove carbon dioxide. In some species, these tracheal tubes undergo active compression, periodically collapsing and reinflating to facilitate internal airflow. The mechanical behavior of the tracheal system is governed by its structural design, which in turn influences its physiological role in respiration. Despite the critical importance of tracheal material properties in insect respiratory function, there are relatively few published studies that characterize their uniaxial tensile behavior. In this study, we present new experimental methods for measuring the pressure-induced biaxial deformations of tracheal tubes isolated from the American cockroach (Periplaneta americana). To this end, an inflation-extension testing device was built to subject tracheae to increasing internal pressures (0-6 kPa) and axial displacements (0-0.2 mm). Local circumferential and longitudinal stretches were quantified using non-contact strain measurement techniques. In most cases, circumferential stretches increased nonlinearly with applied pressure at any axial displacements, whereas longitudinal stretches changed minimally. This behavior likely reflects the combined influence of structural anisotropy, mechanical coupling and geometric constraints. The observed deformations highlight the mechanical sophistication of insect tracheae. They underscore the importance of integrating geometry and microstructure to understand how these structures resist collapse, enable gas exchange and adapt to mechanical demands.

  PublisherDOI

• Biomechanical and Compositional Changes in the Murine Uterus with Age

  Annals of Biomedical Engineering · 2025-03-24 · 3 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Deep learning reduced order models of vaginal tear propagation

  Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials/Journal of mechanical behavior of biomedical materials · 2025-06-05 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Comparative Tensile Properties of the Equine Vagina, Penile Sheath, and Scrotum

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The biomechanics of the vagina: a complete review of incomplete data

  npj Women s Health · 2025-01-27 · 12 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  The biomechanical properties of the vagina are crucial to fulfilling physiological functions such as menstruation, sexual intercourse, pregnancy, and childbirth. Alterations to these properties are associated with pathological conditions that profoundly affect women. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the limited and inconsistent data on the biomechanics al properties of the vagina as they relate to pregnancy, parity, prolapse, and menopause, guiding new research efforts that advance women’s health.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pregnancy-induced remodeling of the murine reproductive tract: a longitudinal in vivo magnetic resonance imaging study

  Scientific Reports · 2024-01-05 · 13 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Mammalian pregnancy requires gradual yet extreme remodeling of the reproductive organs to support the growth of the embryos and their birth. After delivery, the reproductive organs return to their non-pregnant state. As pregnancy has traditionally been understudied, there are many unknowns pertaining to the mechanisms behind this remarkable remodeling and repair process which, when not successful, can lead to pregnancy-related complications such as maternal trauma, pre-term birth, and pelvic floor disorders. This study presents the first longitudinal imaging data that focuses on revealing anatomical alterations of the vagina, cervix, and uterine horns during pregnancy and postpartum using the mouse model. By utilizing advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, T1-weighted and T2-weighted images of the reproductive organs of three mice in their in vivo environment were collected at five time points: non-pregnant, mid-pregnant (gestation day: 9-10), late pregnant (gestation day: 16-17), postpartum (24-72 h after delivery) and three weeks postpartum. Measurements of the vagina, cervix, and uterine horns were taken by analyzing MRI segmentations of these organs. The cross-sectional diameter, length, and volume of the vagina increased in late pregnancy and then returned to non-pregnant values three weeks after delivery. The cross-sectional diameter of the cervix decreased at mid-pregnancy before increasing in late pregnancy. The volume of the cervix peaked at late pregnancy before shortening by 24-72 h postpartum. As expected, the uterus increased in cross-sectional diameter, length, and volume during pregnancy. The uterine horns decreased in size postpartum, ultimately returning to their average non-pregnant size three weeks postpartum. The newly developed methods for acquiring longitudinal in vivo MRI scans of the murine reproductive system can be extended to future studies that evaluate functional and morphological alterations of this system due to pathologies, interventions, and treatments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Biomechanical and Compositional Changes in the Murine Uterus with Age

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2024-09-30

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract The uterus is a hollow, fibromuscular organ involved in physiologic processes such as menstruation and pregnancy. The content and organization of extracellular matrix constituents such as fibrillar collagen dictates passive (non-contractile) biomechanical tissue function; however, how extracellular matrix composition and biomechanical function change with age in the uterus remains unknown. This study utilizes Raman spectroscopy coupled with biaxial inflation testing to investigate changes in the murine uterus with age (2-3 months, 4-6 months, 10-12 months, and 20-24 months). Linear and toe moduli significantly decreased with reproductive aging (2 to 12 months); however, moduli increased in the oldest age group (20-24 months). The optical signature of combined elastin and collagen content was significantly higher in the oldest group (20-24 month), while the glycogen contribution was the highest in the 2-3 month murine uterus. The presented workflow couples biaxial inflation testing and Raman spectroscopy, representing a critical first step to correlating biomechanics and optical signatures in the aging uterus with the potential for clinical translation. Further, this study may provide critical compositional and structure-function information regarding age-related uterine disorders.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A finite strain integral model for the creep behavior of vaginal tissue

  International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics · 2024-04-10 · 2 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• LEAP-HI: Coordinated Advances in Reproductive Engineering for Health Research (CARE4HeR)

  NSF · $2.0M · 2021–2027

• Active Mechanical Properties of the Uterosacral Ligament: A New Micro-to-Macro Characterization for Prolapse Treatment

  NSF · $396k · 2018–2024

• UNS: Collaborative Research: Impact of Pregnancy on the Mechanics of Vaginal Tissue

  NSF · $250k · 2015–2020

• BRITE Pivot: Tissue Research Advances for New Surgeries-Facilitating Organ Reconstruction with Mechanics

  NSF · $616k · 2022–2025

• Mechanics-based Metrics for Vaginal Tear Evaluation

  NSF · $527k · 2019–2024

Frequent coauthors

• Steven D. Abramowitch

  University of Pittsburgh

  10 shared

• Jeffrey A. McGuire

  Virginia Tech

  10 shared

• Pamela Moalli

  University of Pittsburgh

  10 shared

• David Dillard

  Virginia Tech

  9 shared

• Joseph W. Freeman

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  9 shared

• Kristin S. Miller

  The University of Texas at Dallas

  8 shared

• Zheying Guo

  Ningbo University of Technology

  7 shared

• Frances M. Davis

  University of Southampton

  6 shared

Awards & honors

• Sally Bohland Award for Exceptional Leadership in Access and…
• Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological…
• Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME…
• Excellence in Access and Inclusion Award (2019)
• Liviu Librescu Faculty Prize (2014)