Berardo

Alice Berardo
Department of Civil,  Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova
Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
tel +39 049 8276754
e-mail alice.berardo@unipd.it

Research Activity

Alice Berardo’s research is carried out in the fields of solid mechanics, numerical methods, mechanics of biological tissues, and biomaterials.
Research activities are developed in the multi-disciplinary framework of the Centre for Mechanics of Biological Materials at the University of Padova in cooperation with researchers from different fields, such as engineering, materials science, anatomy, physiology, medicine, and surgery.

Specifically, her current research is focused on:

  • biomechanics of the gastrointestinal tract, using a combined experimental and computational approach to assess the reliability as well as the design of clinical-surgical procedures for the treatment of obesity;
  • fascial tissue biomechanics, through experimental and computational mechanical analysis of human fascial tissue, relating to its microstructure;
  • soft tissue biomechanics (adipose, dense, cartilaginous), in collaboration with the Hospital Units (Padua Hospital) and Orthopedics. The overall objective of the research is to analyze the mechanical behavior of soft tissues considering the influence of pathologies (e.g., diabetes, obesity, arthritis), examining samples taken from different anatomical districts characterized by different functionalities.

The adopted approaches involve an integrated anatomical-histological and biomechanical investigation, aimed at developing in silico models for medicine and surgery.

Five most representative publications

  • Toniolo, P. Pirini, S. Perretta, E. L. Carniel, A. Berardo. Endoscopic versus laparoscopic bariatric procedures: a computational biomechanical study through a patient-specific approach, COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE, 2024, 243, 107889. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2023.107889
  • Belluzzi, S. Todros, A. Pozzuoli, P. Ruggieri, E. L. Carniel, A. Berardo. Human Cartilage Biomechanics: Experimental and Theoretical Approaches towards the Identification of Mechanical Properties in Healthy and Osteoarthritic Conditions. PROCESSES, 2023, 11 (4), 1014; DOI: 10.3390/pr11041014
  • Toniolo, A. Berardo, M. Foletto, C. Fiorillo, G. Quero, S. Perretta, E. L. Carniel. Patient-specific stomach biomechanics before and after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. SURGICAL ENDOSCOPY, 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s00464-022-09233-7
  • Berardo and N. M. Pugno. A model for hierarchical anisotropic friction, adhesion and wear. TRIBOLOGY INTERNATIONAL (2020), 152, 106549, DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106549
  • Berardo, G. Costagliola, S. Ghio, M. Boscardin, F. Bosia, N. Pugno, An experimental-numerical study of the adhesive static and dynamic friction of micro-patterned soft polymer surfaces. MATERIALS&DESIGN (2019), 181, 107930. DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2019.107930