Our Principal Investigators
Steven J. Stanhope
STEVEN J. STANHOPE
Steven J. Stanhope is a professor at the University of Delaware with joint academic appointments in the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology; the Biomechanics and Movement Science interdisciplinary graduate program; the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park. Stanhope established and directed the Biomechanics Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he served as the founding director of the Physical Disabilities Branch; was the founder and principal coordinator for the US-Italian rehabilitation research cooperation; the principal coordinator for the Interagency Disability and Rehabilitation Research Initiative; won the 2004 Clinical Center Director’s Award for Science; and spearheaded the design and execution of the 1996 Gait Analysis in Rehabilitation Medicine priorities conference.
Stanhope’s research interests include rehabilitation and orthopaedic biomechanics; movement analysis methodologies; prosthetics and orthotics; aging and chronic conditions; and recently childhood obesity. He is a founding member of both the SIAMOC and the Gait & Clinical Movement Analysis (GCMA) Society. He has served as the GCMAS society President, and on the Society’s Board of Directors. Stanhope has served on study sections for the NIH, Department of Education (NIDRR), and the National Science Foundation. Stanhope has an extensive list of indexed publications, invited presentations and inventions.
Irene. S. Davis
IRENE S. DAVIS
Irene S. Davis is a professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabiliation at the Harvard Medical School and Director of the Spaulding National Running Center. Prior to joining Harvard/Spaulding, Dr. Davis was a professor in the Physical Therapy Department at the University of Delaware and Director of UD’s Running Injury Lab.
She holds bachelor’s degrees in exercise science from the University of Massachusetts and physical therapy from the University of Florida. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Virginia and her PhD from Penn State University, both in biomechanics.
Dr. Davis has been studying the relationships among lower extremity structure, mechanics and injury in runners for the past 20 years. Current areas of study include mechanical factors in tibial stress fractures and patellofemoral disorders along with the effect of physical therapy interventions such as gait retraining. Her work has been funded by the Department of Defense, the Army Research Office, and the National Institutes of Health. Her research has led to many innovative interventions including gait retraining with real time feedback to correct faulty running mechanics.
Dr. Davis has lectured nationally and internationally and authored over 90 publications. She has been active professionally in the American Physical Therapy Association, the American Society of Biomechanics, and the International Society of Biomechanics. She is also a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and current Past-President of the American Society of Biomechanics.
She has organized and coordinated national research retreats on topics of the foot and ankle, anterior cruciate ligament injuries and patellofemoral pain syndrome. She has been featured on ABC as well as in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Davis serves as the Director of Research on the BADER Consortium.
Kenton R. Kaufman
KENTON R. KAUFMAN
Dr. Kenton R. Kaufman is the W. Hall Wendel Jr. Musculoskeletal Research Professor, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Director of the Biomechanics-Motion Analysis Laboratory, and Consultant in the Departments of Orthopedic Surgery, Physiology and Biomedical Engineering at the Mayo Clinic.
He is a registered professional engineer. He received a Ph.D. in biomechanical engineering from North Dakota State University. Kaufman’s primary areas of expertise are in-vivo dynamic assessment of musculoskeletal function and musculoskeletal modeling. His work is primarily translational, as he collaborates with orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, physiatrists, orthotists, prosthetists and other scientists to improve the knowledge, diagnosis, and treatment of human musculoskeletal injury and disease.
His research has focused on neuromuscular function and treatment of musculoskeletal disease, including neuromuscular disorders, osteoarthritis, prosthetics and orthotics. He currently holds several grants from NIH and DOD, with projects aimed at improving the mobility of disabled individuals.
He is the co-inventor of the SensorWalk, a stance-control orthosis on the commercial market. He has also conducted research to decrease overuse injuries in military recruits and developed the combat boots worn by the U.S. Marine Corps.
He has published over 175 scientific peer-reviewed papers and 35 book chapters. He holds 4 US patents and one international patent. Kaufman has won a number of awards for his research. He is a Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2002) and the American Society for Biomechanics (2011).
Dr. Kaufman is responsible for overseeing the Scientific Technical Cores for the BADER Consortium.
Dr. Jonathan Dingwell
JONATHAN DINGWELL
Dr. Jonathan Dingwell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology & Health Education at the University of Texas, Austin. He also serves as the Director of the Nonlinear Biomechanics Laboratory.
Dr. Dingwell holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Miami University (OH). He earned his master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the Ohio State University and his PhD in kinesiology from Penn State University.
He has researched human locomotion and clinical rehabilitation for over 16 years. His Master’s degree work involved developing and testing real-time visual feedback systems to improve gait symmetry in amputee patients walking on a motorized treadmill. This work garnered two subsequent first-author journal publications.
Dr. Dingwell’s PhD dissertation involved assessing dynamic walking stability in healthy subjects and in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Dr. Dingwell was intimately involved with every aspect of the conceptualization, development, design, and conduct of this study. This work garnered four subsequent first-author journal publications. Dr. Dingwell has been funded as PI on a grant from the Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Foundation, and as PI on four subsequent research grants from NIH.
Dr. Dingwell has also served, or is currently serving, as a co-PI on one NSF grant and two U.S. Army/DoD grants. These research projects have involved studying walking dynamics and neuromuscular control amputations or traumatic brain injury (TBI). In short, Dr. Dingwell has worked closely with a variety of clinical populations, most recently including those to be directly served by this BADER Consortium.
Through these experiences, Dr. Dingwell has acquired and developed extensive expertise in quantifying human walking dynamics and also in using the experimental and computational methods we propose to use here. In total, Dr. Dingwell’s research has so far yielded 33 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Dr. Dingwell has also published 2 book chapters and authored or co-authored over 140 peer-reviewed conference proceedings and abstracts presented at national and international conferences. Dr. Dingwell has chaired committees of 2 former PhD and 9 former Master’s thesis students. Dr. Dingwell is currently chairing 4 PhD and 2 Master’s committees. Dr. Dingwell served on 2 current and 8 former PhD dissertation committees.