Dr. Nakayama is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and hold a joint appointment in the Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation. She also holds an affiliate appointment at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the University of Oregon. The overarching scientific mission of her research group is to develop therapeutic treatments for traumatic musculoskeletal injuries using regenerative bioengineering strategies. Specifically, the Nakayama group works on: 1) regenerative engineering of the musculoskeletal niche to treat severe nerve, muscle, and bone defects in extremity trauma; 2) rehabilitation engineering and rodent models of exercise to improve functional recovery and reduce pain following lower limb injury; 3) immune modulation of the regenerative niche through cell-based therapies and the rationale design of biomaterials; 4) age-dependencies of regenerative therapies.