Treena Livingston Arinzeh’s research focuses on the development of functional biomaterials and tissue engineering strategies for the repair of damaged or diseased tissues. Tissue engineering approaches include the use of stem cells and other cell types in combination with biomaterial scaffolds as a therapeutic strategy and for use as in vitro models to understand the development of normal and diseased tissues. Her most cited work to date has been in the use of allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to induce bone formation without the use of immunosuppressive therapy, demonstrating the potential use of MSCs as an off-the-shelf therapy. Recent accomplishments include the development of piezoelectric materials, which are smart materials, processed into fiber structures that mimic both structure and function of ECM matrices. Piezoelectric materials can provide electrical stimulation without the use of external electrodes. Arinzeh has demonstrated feasibility of these materials for bone, cartilage and neural tissue engineering applications. She also develops biomimetic, naturally-derived materials, such as glycosaminoglycan-mimetics, that provide bioactivity and promote tissue repair through growth factor interaction and other mechanisms.