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Resident Physician
University of Pittsburgh
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
I am a Resident Physician in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery completing a Research Fellowship at the Ferguson Laboratory for Orthopaedic and Spine Research. My lab is focused on understanding the biology behind intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) and developing biological, biomechanical, and cell-based therapies for IDD. This is accomplished through both translational basic science and clinical spine research. I also split my time with the Biodynamics Lab (BDL) at the University of Pittsburgh. The BDL’s mission is to investigate relationships between dynamic joint function and disease, injury, age and treatments to improve diagnosis and care of orthopaedic conditions. It is also to develop innovative technologies and methods for assessing the dynamic function of joints and musculoskeletal tissue. I also serve as the research fellow for the Pittsburgh Orthopaedic Spine Research Group (POSR), where we aim to conduct clinical research to improve the standard of care in spine surgery. I have a background in molecular biology, pathology, infectious disease, and musculoskeletal medicine. I have previously trained at the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health (NICHD/NIH), Center for AIDS Research at NIH (CFAR/NIH), Mathematical Neuroscience Lab at UC San Diego, Department of Pathology at UC San Diego, Department of Medicine at UC San Diego, and the Human Movement & Biomechanics Laboratory at University of Arizona. I have served in the roles of research coordinator, co-investigator, and grant writer in both basic science, clinical and translational research. My skill sets are directly applicable to the design and execution of the proposed study.
