I had the privilege of working in Dr. Haudenschild’s Translational Orthopedic Laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Jenkins. Nearly 16 million tendon and ligament injuries occur annually in the United States, yet there is no effective therapy for them, resulting in chronic pain and limited joint mobility for many patients. My project aimed to develop a new tendon injury model that more accurately represents native human tendon tissue, so it can be used to test the lab’s novel therapeutic approach. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop more effective therapies for tendon injuries.