Computational musculoskeletal biologist advancing translational approaches to bone biology through biomechanics and genomics
SAN FRANCISCO — May 1, 2026 — The UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is pleased to announce the appointment of Serra Akbas Kaya, PhD, Assistant Researcher in the UCSF Laboratory of Skeletal Mechanobiology (Alliston Lab), as Assistant Adjunct Professor, effective today.
Dr. Kaya is a computational and musculoskeletal biologist whose work integrates biomechanics, transcriptomics, and human genomic data to study the molecular mechanisms underlying bone quality and skeletal disease. Her research spans molecular, cellular, and tissue scales, using computational and translational approaches to connect experimental models with human skeletal biology.
Her work focuses on identifying multiscale mechanisms that govern bone quality and skeletal disease by integrating tissue-level biomechanics with cellular and molecular analyses in both experimental models and human populations.
Building on foundational work in bone biomechanics and osteocyte biology, she has developed computational and genomic approaches to link molecular pathways with clinically relevant phenotypes of bone fragility and osteoarthritis. This work emphasizes cross-species translation, combining mouse models, RNA sequencing, and large-scale human genomic and imaging datasets to identify conserved mechanisms with direct relevance to human musculoskeletal disease.
A central contribution of her research is the development of a mouse-to-human translational framework integrating RNA sequencing and genome-wide association studies. This work has produced the publicly available resource mouse2human.org and multiple peer-reviewed publications in musculoskeletal biology, including the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
Dr. Kaya’s research has been supported by competitive extramural funding, including a Department of Defense award (Principal Investigator), an NIH R21, and participation as sub-award PI on an NIH R01. She has also received the UCSF Health Innovation via Engineering (HIVE) Emerging Postdoctoral Fellowship and multiple scientific awards.
In addition to her research, Dr. Kaya has made significant contributions to education and mentorship at UCSF. She directed the UCSF Musculoskeletal Center Summer Research Course, where she developed curriculum and trained high school and undergraduate students, including many from groups underrepresented in science and engineering.
She has provided sustained, hands-on mentorship to trainees across UCSF, including graduate students, undergraduate researchers, and rotation students, supporting development in experimental design, RNA sequencing analysis, and computational methods. Trainees consistently describe her as a clear, supportive, and highly effective mentor.
Dr. Kaya has contributed to scientific service and leadership through the Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology and Medicine, where she held leadership roles in the Junior Investigator Committee, including Co-Chair. She has organized UCSF scientific retreats, co-led interdisciplinary seminar programming through UCSF HIVE, and serves as a peer reviewer for leading journals in the field.
Education and Training
Dr. Kaya earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from The City College of New York and her BS in Chemical Engineering from Bogazici University. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery within the Laboratory of Skeletal Mechanobiology (Alliston Lab) and subsequently served as an Assistant Researcher in the department.
Her appointment reflects UCSF’s recognition of her contributions as a scientist, educator, and mentor. The department looks forward to her continued impact on translational musculoskeletal research and trainee development.
