Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder affects over 10 million people in the US each year. The signs and symptoms of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) include limited mouth opening, clicking and locking of the jaw, and significant pain in the craniofacial region. A majority of these cases involve the pathology of the TMJ disc, a large fibrocartilage responsible for joint function. Treatments aimed at restoring joint function, such as corticosteroid injections and joint replacements, have been met with limited success due to the gap in understanding about the complex biomechanical function of the TMJ disc and the events that lead to pathology of the disc. As a result, significant advances in research are essential to understand the pathophysiology of joint degeneration for early diagnosis and management. It is generally believed that pathological mechanical loadings, e.g. sustained jaw clenching or malocclusion, trigger a cascade of molecular events leading to TMJ disc degeneration. A deeper understanding of the biomechanics, i.e. mechanical environment and effect on the nutrient environment, could lead to developments in TMJ disorder diagnosis and management. Therefore, the objective of this research study is to determine the mechanical and transport properties of the human TMJ disc and begin to simulate joint biomechanics using patient specific finite element models. Our central hypothesis is that sustained mechanical loading can alter solute transport and nutrient levels in the TMJ disc as well as mechanical function resulting in disc derangement and degeneration. Aim 1:​ Determine mechanical properties of human TMJ discs and correlate the mechanical properties to the tissue composition and structure. Aim 2:​ Determine strain-dependent transport properties of human TMJ discs. The outcome of this study will yield a model of the human mechanical environment of the TMJ disc that will build a pathway between biomechanics and pathobiology.