Associate Professor of Biology
Dr. Rosario received his BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California Berkeley, his MS in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a PhD in Biology at Duke University. He earned several awards throughout his academic career including a fellowship from the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, and the National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology. Dr. Rosario's research interest began with understanding the mechanisms of energy storage in biological structures. After postdoctoral training at Brown University, he has incorporated muscle-spring interactions into his research interests. Dr. Rosario has experience in teaching comparative vertebrate anatomy, scientific computing at both the graduate (SOURCE workshop) and undergraduate (biomechanical programming labs) levels, and Human Anatomy and Physiology. In 2025, he was awarded with the Lindback Distinguished Teaching award for his work with AI-generated podcasts in large lecture classes.
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Cellular and Molecular Biology Undergraduate
Vrunda Patel is currently a fourth year Cellular and Molecular Biology undergraduate (on the pre-med track), with a minor in Psychology. Her interests are in muscle and tendon relationship, with a specific focus on injured and injured tendons and their healing processes. She recently worked on a project with Dr. Rosario investigating fibril diameter alterations affecting interactions with the connected muscles. Her future plans are to attend medical school to pursue a career as a physician.

Biology Masters Student
Daniel Hong is a Masters student studying the biomechanics and functional morphology of the killer whale (Orcinus orca) skull. In particular, he is studying how hard it bites and what kinds of stresses its skull can withstand. He is also studying the killer whale's biomechanics in relation to that of other cetaceans and predators.

Cellular and Molecular Biology Undergraduate
As a Cellular and Molecular Biology undergraduate in Dr. Rosario's lab, Jay investigates whether the vibration frequencies produced by cat purrs can activate cellular DNA repair mechanisms. His work combines audio analysis of feline purring behavior with computational modeling of mechanosensitive proteins to understand how mechanical signals propagate through the cell. Ultimately, he aims to determine whether purr-derived frequencies could serve as a novel therapeutic avenue for triggering DNA protection and repair pathways.

Cellular and Molecular Biology Undergraduate
Ezana Rivers is an undergraduate Cell and Molecular Biology student conducting research in two areas of computational biology. In one project, she is developing an agent-based model and simulation of action potentials in animals and Venus flytraps as an educational tool for K–12 students. In a second project, she investigates the viscoelastic properties of tendons at the molecular level, using Molecular Dynamics simulations in GROMACS to examine how tropocollagen — the amino acid-level building block of tendons — responds to mechanical stress, with implications for understanding how tendons transfer contractile force between muscle and bone.

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate
Rajal Vyas is currently a 2nd-year undergraduate student studying Biomedical Engineering (on a pre-med track) at West Chester University. Her interests are muscle models, and the structure, and function of proteins in muscles. Her future plans include to attend an MD/Ph.D. program. She will be assisting Dr. Rosario with his project relating to muscle models.

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate
Daniel is an undergrad in the Biomedical Engineering program. His project involves 3D model creation and fluid dynamic testing of snailfish. Daniel is also using computational fluid dynamics to quantify the effects of snailfish posture on drag reduction.

Biology Master's
Nick is a Master's student that is currently working on a project involving appling machine learning algorithms to high speed video. He is quantifying the effects of high speed interpolation on kinematic measures.

Biology Master's
Steven Snipes is currently a graduate student pursing a master's at West Chester University. Previously, Steven graduated from Penn State with a bachelors in Biology. Steven's interest are in the development of muscle models and theories. Steven will be working under Professor Rosario, focusing on a muscle model project focused on the extension between the muscles and tendons and the time it takes to contract between each motion/distance.

Integrative Biology Undergraduate
Hailey is currently a 4th-year, senior, undergraduate Biology student with a Nutrition minor. Her interests are in muscle mechanics and the structure of tendon tissue. She is working under Dr. Rosario on a rat tail tendon project. This project stretches the tendon that is in a rat tail and examines the materials that make up this tendon, as well as what occurs in the tissue when it is stretched. Her future plans are to attend medical school, specifically a D.O. program, and potentially specialize in emergency medicine.

Biology Master's
Veronica is in the West Chester University Biology MS Program. She will be working with Dr. Rosario for her thesis project, which will involve the construction of a molecular dynamic model of rat tendons. The goal of this project is to understand how the structure of this important tissue may be affected by both eccentric and concentric contractions, and to do so at a molecular level. Her previous research experience includes assisting with the discovery and isolation of bacteriophages, as well as with the annotation of their genetic material. Veronica's future plans are to earn a doctoral degree that will train her to become a scientist conducting research in biophysics. Her scientific interests include biophysics, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, astronomy, astrobiology, and general theory about the purpose of life and the universe.

Biology Master's
Abby is a second year Master's student in the Accelerated B.S/M.S in Integrative Biology Program. She works in the Liquid Life Laboratory at West Chest University under the advisement of Frank Fish. Her thesis is based on the maneuverability and flexibility of Bluefin tuna. Abby's interests include biomechanics, animal morphology, and animal wellness. Her future plans are to attend Veterinary School and specialize in large animal surgery. Abby will be assisting Dr. Rosario on his project researching energy storage in mice tendons.

Exercise Science Undergraduate
Olivier Nguyen is currently a 3rd year undergraduate student studying Exercise Science (Pre-PT concentration) at West Chester University. He is interested in biomechanics, specifically aquatic potential in mammals. He will be assisting Dr. Rosario to design and build the equipment needed to analyze various forms of data regarding energy storage in biological structures.