Accomplishments

2022

March 2022

  • Congratulations to Krystal Tamayo for publishing her work called “Obesity impacts the mechanical response and biochemical composition of patellofemoral cartilage: An in vivo, MRI-based investigation” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include Lauren Heckelman, Chuck Spritzer, Lou DeFrate, and Amber Collins. You can read the paper here.

January 2022

  • Congratulations to Lauren Heckelman, PhD for being honored with the Graduate School’s Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching! This award celebrates graduate students who best exemplify the characteristics of effective college teaching as they prepare for lives of service, leadership, and teaching. You can read more about this honor here.
  • John Martin, PhD recently published a new article entitled “Lumbar intervertebral disc diurnal deformations and T2 and T1rho relaxation times vary by spinal level and disc region” in the European Spine Journal. Co-authors include Alex Oldweiler, Andrzej Kosinski, Chuck Spritzer, Brian Soher, Melissa Erickson, Adam Goode, and Lou DeFrate. You can access the article here.

2021

December 2021

  • Congratulations to Lauren Heckelman, PhD for defending her dissertation entitled “Multimodal Musculoskeletal Imaging Techniques to Non-Invasively Assess In Vivo Soft and Hard Tissue Biomechanics” on December 9, 2021. Way to go, Lauren!
  • Congratulations to Hattie Cutcliffe, PhD for publishing her work called “Mechanical metrics may show improved ability to predict osteoarthritis compared to T1rho mapping” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include Pavan Kottamasu, Amy McNulty, Adam Goode, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the paper here.

November 2021

  • Congratulations to Sophia Kim-Wang, PhD for publishing her work called “Immune cell profiles in synovial fluid after anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus injuries” in Arthritis Research & Therapy. Co-authors include Abigail Holt, Alyssa McGowan, Stephanie Danyluk, Adam Goode, Brian Lau, Alison Toth, Jocelyn Wittstein, Lou DeFrate, John Yi, and Amy McNulty. You can read the paper here.
  • Lauren Heckelman recently published a new article entitled “Diabetes is associated with a lower minimum moment of inertia among older women: An analysis of 3D reconstructions of clinical CT scans” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include Ben Wesorick, Lou DeFrate, and Richard Lee. You can access the article here.

July 2021

  • Congratulations to our newest PhD candiate, James Coppock, for passing his preliminary exam! Way to go, James!

June 2021

  • Congratulations to Sophia Kim-Wang, PhD for successfully defending her dissertation on Wednesday, June 9. She will now complete her medical education at the Duke University School of Medicine en route to an MD-PhD. Best of luck, Sophia!

May 2021

  • Congratulations to James Coppock for publishing his work called “Increasing BMI increases lumbar intervertebral disc deformation following a treadmill walking stress test” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include Stephanie Danyluk, Zoë Englander, Chuck Spritzer, Adam Goode, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the paper here.
  • Congratulations to our very own Adam Goode, PT, DPT, PhD and Lou DeFrate, ScD for publishing an article entitled “Predictors of Lumbar Spine Degeneration and Low Back Pain in the Community: The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project” in Arthritis Care & Research. You can read the article here.

March 2021

  • Zoë Englander, PhD recently published a new article entitled “Patellar Tendon Orientation and Strain Are Predictors of ACL Strain In Vivo During a Single-Leg Jump” in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Brian Lau, Jocelyn Wittstein, Adam Goode, and Lou DeFrate. You can access the article here. Congrats, Zoë!

February 2021

  • Bryan Crook recently published a new article entitled “Effect of walking on in vivo tibiofemoral cartilage strain in ACL-deficient versus intact knees” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include Amber Collins, Nimit Lad, Chuck Spritzer, Jocelyn Wittstein, and Lou DeFrate. You can access the article here. Congrats, Bryan!

January 2021

  • Congratulations to Sophia Kim-Wang for publishing her work called “Distribution of Bone Contusion Patterns in Acute Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament–Torn Knees” in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Melissa Scribani, Michael Whiteside, Lou DeFrate, Tally Lassiter, and Jocelyn Wittstein. You can read the paper here.
  • Amber Collins, PhD recently published a new article entitled “Obesity alters the collagen organization and mechanical properties of murine cartilage” in Scientific Reports. Co-authors include Guoli Hu, Hunter Newman, Michael Reinsvold, Monique Goldsmith, Jack Twomey-Kozak, Holly Leddy, Deepika Sharma, Leyao Shen, Lou DeFrate, and Courtney Karner. You can access the article here.

2020

December 2020

  • Lauren Heckelman recently published a new article entitled “Dose and Recovery Response of Patellofemoral Cartilage Deformations to Running” in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Lexie Riofrio, Emily Vinson, Amber Collins, Olivia Gwynn, Gary Utturkar, Adam Goode, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can access the article here.
  • Congratulations to Amber Collins, PhD for publishing her work called “The Influence of Obesity and Meniscal Coverage on In Vivo Tibial Cartilage Thickness and Strain” in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Micaela Kulvaranon, Chuck Spritzer, Amy McNulty, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the paper here.
  • Congratulations to Ben Andress from the McNulty Lab for publishing his first, first-author paper entitled “Meniscus cell regional phenotypes: Dedifferentiation and reversal by biomaterial embedding” in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. Co-authors include Jason Kim, Hattie Cutcliffe, Ned Amendola, Adam Goode, Shyni Varghese, Lou DeFrate, and Amy McNulty. We love collaborating with the McNulty Lab! You can check out the article here.

November 2020

  • Hattie Cutcliffe, PhD and Lou DeFrate, ScD authored a new book chapter called “Four-Point Bending Testing for Mechanical Assessment of Mouse Bone Structural Properties” in the new book Skeletal Development and Repair. You can access the chapter here.

July 2020

  • Hattie Cutcliffe, PhD recently published an article entitled “The Characteristic Recovery Time as a Novel, Noninvasive Metric for Assessing In Vivo Cartilage Mechanical Function” in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering. Co-authors include Keithara Davis, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here. Congrats, Hattie!

June 2020

  • Congratulations to Zoë Englander, PhD for publishing an article entitled “Reconsidering Reciprocal Length Patterns of the Anteromedial and Posterolateral Bundles of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament During In Vivo Gait” in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Jocelyn Wittstein, Adam Goode, William Garrett, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

February 2020

  • Lauren Heckelman recently published an article entitled “Quantifying the biochemical state of knee cartilage in response to running using T1rho magnetic resonance imaging” in Scientific Reports. Co-authors include Wyatt Smith, Lexie Riofrio, Emily Vinson, Amber Collins, Olivia Gwynn, Gary Utturkar, Adam Goode, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here. Great work, Lauren!

January 2020

  • Congratulations to Hattie Cutcliffe, PhD and Lou DeFrate, ScD for publishing an article entitled “Comparison of Cartilage Mechanical Properties Measured During Creep and Recovery” in Scientific Reports. You can read the article here.
  • Zoë Englander, PhD recently published an article entitled “In vivo attachment site to attachment site length and strain of the ACL and its bundles during the full gait cycle measured by MRI and high-speed biplanar radiography” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include William Garrett, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here. Great work, Zoë!

2019

November 2019

  • Congratulations to our very own Adam Goode, PT, DPT, PhD and Lou DeFrate, ScD for publishing an article entitled “Inflammatory, Structural, and Pain Biochemical Biomarkers May Reflect Radiographic Disc Space Narrowing: The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project” in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. You can read the article here.

October 2019

  • Congratulations to Hattie Cutcliffe, PhD for successfully defending her PhD dissertation, entitled “In vivo Mechanical Metrics for the Quantitative Assessment of Cartilage Health”, on October 4, 2019. We’re so proud of you!
  • Zoë Englander, PhD recently published an article entitled “In Vivo Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deformation During a Single-Legged Jump Measured by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and High-Speed Biplanar Radiography” in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Ed Baldwin, Wyatt Smith, William Garrett, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

September 2019

  • Lauren Heckelman successfully completed her preliminary exam on September 10, 2019. Congratulations to our latest Biomedical Engineering PhD candidate!

August 2019

  • Congratulations to Zoë Englander, PhD for successfully defending her PhD dissertation, entitled “Dynamic in vivo Imaging of Joint Motion: Application to Measurement of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Function”, on August 26, 2019. More information about her work can be found here.

June 2019

  • Congratulations to our newest Biomedical Engineering PhD candidate, Sophia Kim-Wang, for successfully completing her preliminary exam on June 4, 2019.
  • Jacob Ruprecht recently published an article entitled “Meniscus-Derived Matrix Scaffolds Promote the Integrative Repair of Meniscal Defects” in Scientific Reports. Co-authors include Taylor Waanders, Chris Rowland, James Nishimuta, Katherine Glass, Jennifer Stencel, Lou DeFrate, Farshid Guilak, J. Brice Weinberg, and Amy McNulty. You can read the article here.

April 2019

  • Zoë Englander recently published an article entitled “In vivo assessment of the interaction of patellar tendon tibial shaft angle and anterior cruciate ligament elongation during flexion” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include Hattie Cutcliffe, Gary Utturkar, Kevin Taylor, Chuck Spritzer, William Garrett, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

February 2019

  • Congratulations to Chinmay Paranjape and Hattie Cutcliffe for publishing an article entitled “A New Stress Test for Knee Joint Cartilage” in Scientific Reports. Co-authors include Steven Grambow, Gary Utturkar, Amber Collins, William Garrett, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

January 2019

  • Zoë Englander published an article entitled “A Comparison of Knee Abduction Angles Measured by a 3D Anatomic Coordinate System Versus Videographic Analysis: Implications for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury” in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Hattie Cutcliffe, Gary Utturkar, Chuck Spritzer, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the full manuscript here.

2018

December 2018

  • Lou DeFrate, Sophia Kim-Wang, Zoë Englander, and Amy McNulty published an article entitled “Osteoarthritis year in review 2018: mechanics” in Osteoarthritis & Cartilage. Congratulations on this great work! You can read the full manuscript here.

November 2018

  • Congratulations to Kevin Taylor, MD for publishing an article entitled “Activities of daily living influence tibial cartilage T1rho relaxation times” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include Amber Collins, Lauren Heckelman, Sophia Kim, Gary Utturkar, Charles Spritzer, William Garrett, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.
  • Zoë Englander recently published an article entitled “Automatic registration of MRI-based joint models to high-speed biplanar radiographs for precise quantification of in vivo anterior cruciate ligament deformation during gait” in the Journal of Biomechanics. Co-authors include John Martin, Pramodh Ganapathy, William Garret, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

October 2018

  • E. Grant Sutter, MD recently published an article entitled “Effects of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deficiency on Tibiofemoral Cartilage Thickness and Strains in Response to Hopping” in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Betty Liu, Gary Utturkar, Molly Widmyer, Charles Spritzer, Hattie Cutcliffe, Zoë Englander, Adam Goode, William Garrett, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.
  • Congratulations to Amber Collins, PhD for publishing an article entitled “Obesity alters the in vivo mechanical response and biochemical properties of cartilage as measured by MRI” in Arthritis Research and Therapy. Co-authors include Micaela Kulvaranon, Hattie Cutcliffe, Gary Utturkar, Wyatt Smith, Charles Spritzer, Farshid Guilak, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.
  • Amber Collins, PhD recently published an article entitled “Selective Enzymatic Digestion of Proteoglycans and Collagens Alters Cartilage T1rho and T2 Relaxation Times” in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering. Co-authors include Courtney Hatcher, Sophia Kim, Sophia Ziemian, Charles Spritzer, Farshid Guilak, Lou DeFrate, and Amy McNulty. You can read the article here.

July 2018

  • Congratulations to Hans Zhang, MD for recently publishing an article entitled “In Vivo Assessment of Exercise-Induced Glenohumeral Cartilage Strain” in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Lauren Heckelman, Charles Spritzer, Kwadwo Owusu-Akyaw, John Martin, Dean Taylor, Claude Moorman, Grant Garrigues, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

June 2018

  • Kwadwo Adu Owusu-Akyaw, MD recently published an article entitled “Determination of the Position of the Knee at the Time of an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture for Male Versus Female Patients by an Analysis of Bone Bruises” in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Co-authors include Sophia Kim, Charles Spritzer, Amber Collins, Zoë Englander, Gary Utturkar, William Garrett, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

May 2018

  • Lauren Heckelman was named Teaching Assistant of the year by the Biomedical Engineering department. Congratulations Lauren!

March 2018

  • John Martin, PhD recently published an article entitled “Publication trends in spine research from 2007 to 2016: Comparison of the Orthopaedic Research Society Spine Section and the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine.” You can read the article here.
  • Amber Collins, PhD won an award at this year’s Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) Annual Meeting for her podium presentation in the Meniscus section. Congratulations Amber!
  • John Martin, PhD was presented with a New Investigator Recognition Award (NIRA) at this year’s Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) Annual Meeting for his work on the spine. Congratulations John!

February 2018

  • Congratulations to John Martin, PhD, for publishing a new short communication in the Journal of Biomechanics entitled “A magnetic resonance imaging framework for quantifying intervertebral disc deformation in vivo: Reliability and application to diurnal variations in lumbar disc shape!” Co-authors include Alex Oldweiler, Charles Spritzer, Brian Soher, Melissa Erickson, Adam Goode, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.

January 2018

  • Kwadwo Adu Owusu-Akyaw, MD was selected to join the J. Robert Gladden Society Board of Directors as a Resident Board Member. Congratulations Kwadwo! You can read more here.

2017

December 2017

  • The DeFrate lab was featured in the San Antonio news! You can read the article and watch a video about our research here.

November 2017

  • Congratulations to Kwadwo Owusu-Akyaw, MD, for publishing an original article entitled “A comparison of patellofemoral cartilage morphology and deformation in anterior cruciate ligament deficient versus uninjured knees in the Journal of Biomechanics! Co-authors include Lauren Heckelman, Hattie Cutcliffe, E. Grant Sutter, Zoë Englander, Charles Spritzer, William Garrett, and Lou DeFrate. You can read the article here.
  • Congratulations to John Martin, PhD, and the Mauck lab at the University of Pennsylvania for publishing “In Vitro Maturation and In Vivo Integration and Function of an Engineered Cell-Seeded Disc-like Angle Ply Structure (DAPS) for Total Disc Arthroplasty” in Nature Scientific Reports! You can read the article here.

August 2017

  • John Martin, PhD, was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32) for his research investigating the changes in lumbar sping intervertebral discs with age in relation to low back pain. You can read more here.
  • Dr. Lou DeFrate provided commentary on knee arthritis in Science magazine! You can read the article here.
  • Dr. Lou DeFrate’s research on ACL tears and his novel knee stress test for investigating knee mechanics and cartilage health was featured on WRAL. Check out the article and the newscast for more information!

July 2017

  • Congratulations to Dr. Lou DeFrate for recognition received as a July Featured Editorial Board Member. For more information, click here.

June 2017

  • We would like to welcome Sophia Kim, who has joined the DeFrate lab as a PhD student!
  • Congratulations to Louis E. DeFrate, PhD, who had his Kappa Delta Award Paper, “Effects of ACL graft placement on in vivo knee function and cartilage thickness distributions,” featured as cover art for the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. You can read more here.

May 2017

  • Lauren Heckelman recently received a travel award designed to support graduate students who present tissue regeneration-related research at relevant scientific meetings. Lauren attended the Orthopaedic Research Society conference in San Diego, CA on March 19-22 and presented two projects: “In Vivo Behavior of Patellar Cartilage in Response to and Twenty-Four Hours following Running” and “In Vivo Exercise-Induced Glenohumeral Cartilage Strains.” You can read more about the Regeneration Next student travel award program here.

April 2017

  • Lauren Heckelman was selected to receive a Biomedical Engineering Master’s Student Research Fellowship. To learn more about this new Student Research Fellowship program, click here.
  • Louis E. DeFrate, PhD was recently at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) during his ACL Study Group Traveling Fellowship. For more information, please click here.

March 2017

  • Kwadwo Owusu-Akyaw was awarded the Women’s Health Issues Advisory Board (WHIAB) Best Poster Award. Sophia Y. Kim, Charles E. Spritzer, Gangadhar M. Utturkar, Amber T. Collins, William E. Garrett, Louis E. DeFrate were all co-authors. For more information, please click here.
  • Amy McNulty, PhD and her team received the First Place Meniscus Section Poster Award at ORS for, “Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity and Prostaglandin E2 are Elevated in the Synovial Fluid of Meniscus Tear Patients.” Betty Liu, Adam Goode, Teralyn E. Carter, Gangadhar M. Utturkar, Janet L. Huebner, Dean C. Taylor, C.T. Moorman III, William E. Garrett, Virginia B. Kraus, Farshid Guilak, Louis E. DeFrate were all co-authors. You can learn more here.

2016

October 2016

  • We would like to congratulate PGY-3 resident, Dr. Kwadwo Adu Owusu-Akyaw, MD, who received an EOA Resident/Fellow Travel Grant for his presentation on, “The Effect Of Exercise On Tibial Plateau Cartilage Morphology,” at the Eastern Orthopaedic Conference in New Orleans, LA this past week. For more information, please click here.
  • Dr. Kwadwo Owusu-Akyaw received the 2016 North Carolina Orthopaedic Association Best Sports Medicine paper! For more information, please click here.

June 2016

  • Hattie Cutcliffe was awarded the Stansell Klein Gardner Duke Talent Identification Program (TIP) STEM Summer Fellowship. You can learn more here.

May 2016

  • Lauren Heckelman was recently awarded the Theo C. Pilkington Memorial Award at the Pratt School of Engineering Bachelor of Science in Engineering graduation ceremony. You can read more here.
  • Zoë Englander won the 2016 PhD Teaching Assistant (TA) of the year award. You can learn more here.

March 2016

  • Congratulations to Lou DeFrate for winning the 2016 Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award from the AAOS! This is an outstanding achievement, and I’m sure you would agree that he is most deserving of the highest honor given for orthopaedic research. For more information, please click here.

2015

June 2015

  • Dr. Amber Collins, a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Lou DeFrate, received a prestigious NIH F32 Fellowship Award entitled, “Biomechanical Markers of Knee Osteoarthritis and In Vivo Cartilage Loading”. Amber’s project will examine the effects of obesity on cartilage strain as well as other MR imaging signals in cartilage.