Abstract: My journey to studying shoulder biomechanics as a profession was anything but linear. From the farm to the factory to academic research, this talk will touch on my background and how those experiences shaped my laboratory today. Motion analysis and the reversed shoulder. Biorobotics and percutaneous osseointegrated implant development. Diagnostic imaging and statistical shape modeling. This research is as much about my interests as it is supporting the creative and talented clinicians, scientists, and students that I have been fortunate to work with for the past 20 years. This presentation is an overview of that work and the people that make it all possible.
Bio: Heath grew up in Pennsylvania and earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University (formerly General Motors Institute) in Flint, MI. Following 8 years working with industrial robotics, he chose to pursue his PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Utah. Under the mentorship of Dr. Jeff Weiss (PhD) in the Musculoskeletal Research Laboratories, he studied the spatial distribution and mechanical contributions of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in medial collateral ligament. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the University of Utah Department of Orthopaedics, working with Drs. Robert Tashjian (MD) and Robert Burks (MD) to develop a biomechanical shoulder simulator to study the native and repaired/replaced shoulder. Heath also contributed to the development of a biplane fluoroscopy system to measure in vivo joint kinematics with Dr. Andrew Anderson (PhD). In 2012 he was appointed Research Assistant Professor in the Utah Department of Orthopaedics with an Adjunct appointment in Bioengineering. As a faculty member, Heath’s research is focused on the kinematics and biomechanics of the shoulder, with concentrations in reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, biceps tenodesis, and osseointegrated prosthetics for the upper extremity. Outside of research, Heath is an avid golfer, and also enjoys fly-fishing, snowboarding, and keeping active in the outdoors with his family