Principal Investigator
Mary L Bouxsein, PhD
Director, Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Associate Biologist, Endocrine Division, Massachusetts General Hospital
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University
Faculty Member, Bioastronautics Program, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
330 Brookline Ave, RN 115
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: 617-667-2940, fax: 617-667-7175
Email: mbouxsei@bidmc.harvard.edu
Dr. Bouxsein received her BS degree in General Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, studying the effects of exercise on the skeleton with Dennis Carter, PhD and Robert Marcus, MD. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Wilson C. Hayes, PhD. She currently holds joint appointments as a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, adjunct Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Boston University, and is also a faculty member in the MIT-Bioastronautics Program. Her research focuses on understanding skeletal fragility from a biomechanics viewpoint, and includes studies using animal models and human cadaveric tissue, as well as clinical investigations. She also has a strong interest in the use of novel non-invasive imaging techniques to predict fracture risk and monitor response to osteoporosis therapies. Dr. Bouxsein serves on the committee of scientific advisors for the International Osteoporosis Foundation and is a board member of the International Bone and Mineral Society. Dr. Bouxsein has published over 145 peer-reviewed articles and 25 book chapters and invited reviews.
See Dr. Bouxsein’s CV.
Dennis E. Anderson, PhD
Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
330 Brookline Avenue, RN 115
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: 617-667-5380, Fax: 617-667-7175
Email: danders7@bidmc.harvard.edu
Dr. Anderson received his PhD in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech in 2010, studying musculoskeletal biomechanics with a focus on aging and gait under the direction of Michael Madigan, PhD. He then joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow to work in the Biomechanics of Vertebral Fracture project, using qCT scans and musculoskeletal modeling to examine the risk of vertebral fractures in older adults. In 2015, Dr. Anderson was promoted to Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, and currently his research seeks to understand thoracolumbar biomechanics in several inter-related areas: examining how in vivo measurements of trunk musculature from CT scans are associated with age, sex and physical function; in vitro mechanical testing of cadaveric specimens to characterize the mechanical properties of costal cartilage and understand how the rib cage and rib cage stiffness affect loading of the thoracic vertebrae; development and validation of improved musculoskeletal models of the thoracolumbar spine; and examination of biomechanical factors that affect vertebral loading.
See Dr. Anderson’s CV.
Faculty
Fjola Johannesdottir, PhD
Instructor of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
330 Brookline Avenue, RN 120
Boston, MA 02215
Email: fjohanne@bidmc.harvard.edu
Dr. Johannesdottir received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Iceland in 2012, where she used 3D musculoskeletal imaging to study the determinants of osteoporotic fragility among elderly people, especially hip fractures, and to assess age related changes by examining bone structure and shape. During her postdoc at University of Cambridge (UK), she expanded her imaging skills by using novel parametric mapping of femoral bone in patients with and without hip fractures and by using MRI images to assess bone health among Gaucher patients. She then joined the Bouxsein lab in July 2016. Currently, her research seeks to understand better the mechanisms of vertebral fracture by determining the association of incident vertebral fracture with trunk muscle morphology, intravertebral heterogeneity in bone density and disc degeneration.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Dian A. Teguh, PhD
Research Fellow
330 Brookline Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Email: dteguh@bidmc.harvard.edu
Dr. Dian A. Teguh received her PhD in Pathology from the University of Western Australia in 2018. Her PhD project was focusing on characterizing a mouse model with an ENU-induced mutation in the Bcl-2 BH4 domain with an osteoporotic phenotype. Dian was a postdoc at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine studying the cartilage progenitor cells in mouse growth plate before starting her position as a research fellow in the Bouxsein laboratory in February 2019. Her current project focuses on elucidating the relationship between diabetes mellitus and skeletal fragility. In between experiments, she loves to cook and bake, practice some yoga and recently she started going for spinning class, which she absolutely enjoys.
Katelyn Burkhart, PhD
Research Fellow
330 Brookline Ave, RN 119
Boston, MA 02215
Email: kburkhar@bidmc.harvard.edu
Katelyn received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Connecticut, and received her PhD in 2019 from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) Bioastronautics program. Her PhD thesis investigated the effect of spaceflight on the risk of vertebral fracture for astronauts. Katelyn joined the Bouxsein lab group in 2014 as a student, and since 2019 as a research fellow. Her research involves developing a subject-specific musculoskeletal model of the thoracolumbar spine using OpenSim software. This musculoskeletal model can be used to predict in vivo spinal loading and help identify high risk activities that might place someone at risk for vertebral fracture.
Graduate Students
Meng Zhang
Graduate Student
330 Brookline Ave, RN 119
Boston, MA 02215
Email: mzhang5@bidmc.harvard.edu
Meng Zhang is a third-year PhD candidate from Jilin University in China, and she joined the Bouxsein lab group in 2019 as a visiting student. Meng is currently working on a research study investigating structural mechanisms of hip fragility in diabetes. She is excited to have this golden opportunity to study here and learn more things about biomechanics!
Research Associates
Daniel Brooks
Laboratory Manager, Bouxsein Lab and Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies
Email: djbrooks@bidmc.harvard.edu
Daniel Brooks joined the Bouxsein Lab as a Research Associate in 2012. Prior to coming to BIDMC, he worked for five years at Cornell University managing two research labs. He received a Bachelor’s of Science in Biological Engineering from The University of Maine in 2004 and a Master’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the Joint Program of North Carolina State University and UNC-Chapel Hill in 2007. His previous research has looked at cementless hip implant stability, the effect of osteoporosis drugs on the mechanical properties of bone, and the growth of tumors in the bone microenvironment. Currently, Daniel helps with mechanical testing, µCT imaging, in vivo studies, and numerous other aspects of the projects in the Bouxsein lab.
Brett Allaire
Email: ballaire@bidmc.harvard.edu
Brett Allaire graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University in 2009. As an undergrad, Brett did work in the BU Biomicroscopy Lab. He joined the Bouxsein lab in March 2011 and is part of the Biomechanics of Vertebral Fracture team performing image analysis of QCT scans. His research interests include imaging techniques, image processing, and biomechanics.
Research Assistants
Jordan Nustad
Email: jnustad@bidmc.harvard.edu
Jordan Nustad graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in May 2019. Prior to becoming a research assistant, Jordan worked in the Bouxsein lab as research intern on a project looking at the effect of Abaloparatide in an orchiectomized rat model. She is currently working on a clinical study investigating the relationship between diabetes and skeletal fragility along with various other projects. She is excited to continue learning about all things bones and biomechanics!
Andrew Lynch
Email: alynch3@bidmc.harvard.edu
Andrew completed his B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Previously, Andrew worked with elite and novice athletes at Saucony providing bio-mechanical data analysis and adapting future footwear models based off of stride metrics using 3D motion capture systems. He will be working with Dr. Anderson on subject testing and data processing for thoracic spine motion studies, as well as additional upcoming projects in the motion lab. He is excited to be here and to continue his education!