Ottman Tertuliano Named 2026 CIFAR Global Scholar

Ottman Tertuliano, AMA Family Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), has been inducted into the 2026 CIFAR Global Scholars program, an international initiative that supports early-career researchers pursuing interdisciplinary, high-impact research.

Tertuliano was selected for the CIFAR MacMillan Multiscale Human program, which brings together researchers from fields including biology, engineering, physics, medicine, machine learning and computational science to better understand how the human body functions across spatial and temporal scales. The program aims to develop a multiscale map of the human body, connecting molecular, cellular, tissue and organ-level processes to advance human health and medicine.

“For me, this is a unique opportunity to bring my expertise in cell and tissue mechanics and work with an international group composed of biologists, physicists, social scientists, machine learning experts and others,” Tertuliano said. “Together, we are trying to develop a mechanical understanding of how the human body functions across length scales.”

The Tertuliano Lab focuses on the mechanical interactions between cells and tissues, particularly in skeletal development and bone biology. His group studies how cells communicate mechanically within bone tissue and how those interactions shape tissue growth and organization.

“One question we are exploring is how changes in the mechanical properties of the placenta during pregnancy could help predict health outcomes,” Tertuliano said. “These are questions that can only really be answered collaboratively.”

The CIFAR MacMillan Multiscale Human program was launched in 2023 to address a central challenge in biology: integrating information across the many scales of the human body, from molecules and cells to tissues, organs and environmental interactions. The initiative supports collaboration among researchers from traditionally separate disciplines to create new tools, models and frameworks for understanding human biology.

As a CIFAR Global Scholar, Tertuliano will receive CAD $100,000 in unrestricted research funding over two years, along with support for international collaboration, leadership development and participation in global research meetings.