Esther Cramer is a doctoral candidate (PhD) in Orthopaedic Biomechanics (OPB) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Keita Ito and Dr. Sandra Hofmann. Her current research focusses on the development of an ex vivo model to study bone remodeling. This addresses the problem of the poor correlation between in vitro experimental outcomes, which often lack the complexity of the natural bone environment, and in vivo results. Ex vivo cultures could provide a solution because they maintain cells in their native 3D environment. This multidisciplinary project covers a broad range of topics and techniques, such as tissue culture, bone remodeling, histology and microscopy, biomechanics as well as cell behavior and their interactions.  

Esther Cramer studied Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology where she received her BSc degree in 2015. At the same university, she obtained her MSc degree in 2018 in the Orthopaedic Biomechanics research group of Keita Ito. During her graduation project supervised by Dr. Sandra Hofmann, she focused on promoting vascularization in bone tissue engineered constructs. As part of her MSc degree, she completed an internship at Prof. David Kaplan’s Lab at Tufts University in Boston working on 3D printing with silk fibroin for bone tissue engineering applications. In 2019, she joined the Orthopaedic Biomechanics group as a PhD-student investigating bone remodeling using an ex vivo model.