People
Karen L Troy, PhD
- Director, Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory
- Director, BME Graduate Studies
- Professor, Biomedical Engineering
- Office: 4007 Life Sciences and Bioengineering Building
- Tel: 508-831-6093 Email: ktroy at wpi dot edu
- Twitter: @Troy_BiomechLab
- ResearchGate Profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen_Troy
- ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8135-0066
- Publications in Pubmed are available here.
- View Dr. Troy’s CV
Courses Taught:
- BME 1001 Introduction to Biomedical Engineering
- BME 3503 Skeletal Biomechanics Laboratory
- BME/ME 4504 Biomechanics
- BME 553 Biomechanics of Orthopaedic Devices
- BME 593 Scientific Communication
Karen L. Troy directs the Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory, where she investigates questions related to musculoskeletal health and structure, physical activity, and biomechanics, in healthy and clinical populations. She has expertise in computational biomechanics and finite element modeling, aging and fall avoidance, and medical imaging. She has worked on clinical trials targeting bone health in both healthy women and people with spinal cord injury. She collaborates with physicians in the areas of orthopaedic trauma, radiology, rheumatology, and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Graduate Students:
Andrew R. Wilzman, MSE
PhD Candidate
Email: arwilzman@wpi.edu
ResearchGate Profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Wilzman
Andrew is PhD candidate in the MBL who started in 2020 with a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. He is inspired by innovation and fascinated by numerical representations of life. Andrew uses his knowledge in computational modeling, instrumentation, materials, and mechanics within the scope of the human body to answer questions that explore the optimization of healthcare outcomes.
Julia M. Nicolescu
PhD Candidate
Email: jnicolescu@wpi.edu
Julia is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at WPI and member of the MBL. She graduated from Union College in 2022 with her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in Spanish. During undergraduate studies, Julia’s research focused on the biomechanics of heart and brain development of embryos. Her current work focuses on the use of various computational models to understand physiological loading impacts on bone during running. Outside of research Julia enjoys working out, reading, cooking, and spending time outside with her dog, Winnie.
Chris Nguyen
Master’s Student
Email: chnguyen2@wpi.edu
Chris is an Master’s student in Biomedical Engineering and member of the MBL. He graduated from WPI in 2024 with his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. Chris’s current research focuses on utilizing finite element modeling in conjunction with cadaveric specimens to better understand fatigue behavior of bones. Chris is a member of the Track and Field team at WPI and enjoys hiking.
Collaborators
- Paolo Bonato, PhD
- W. Brent Edwards, PhD
- Irene Davis, PT, PhD
- Adam Tenforde, MD
- Rebecca Fellin, PhD
- Ellen Gravallese, MD
- Anjana Jain, PhD
- Leslie R. Morse, DO
- Ara Nazarian, PhD
- Thomas J. Schnitzer, MD, PhD
- Jessica Ventura, PhD
- Jack Wixted, MD
- Jodi Dowthwaite, PhD
Lab Alumni
- Charlotte Kokernak, MS
- Bryhannah Young, MS
- Logan Gaudette, MS – Lab Manager Spaulding National Running Center
- Hannah Sattler, MS – Supplier Engineer II at Novo Nordisk
- Nicole Mattson, MS – Engineer at Veryst Engineering
- Megan Pinette, BS – Research engineer at Rhode Island Hospital
- Maddie Hague, BS – Research engineer at Rhode Island Hospital
- Michael Distefano, BS – PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Penn
- Megan Mancuso, PhD – Engineering Technical Writer, Mathworks Image Processing Team (Natick, MA)
- Tiffiny A. Butler, PhD — Senior director of Educational Equity at Rutgers University
- Joshua E. Johnson, PhD — Project Engineer at the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Research Laboratory (Univ. Iowa)
- Ying Fang, PhD — Postdoctoral research fellow at the Biomechatronics Laboratory (Northern Arizona University)
- Travis Henchie, MS — Research and Development Engineer, Boston Scientific
- Sabahat Ahmed, PharmD
- W. Brent Edwards, PhD — Associate Professor, University of Calgary
- Jessica Longworth, PhD — Field Medical Director at Pfizer
- Nathan Smith, MS — USARIEM
- Varun Bhatia, PhD — Principal Scientist at Medtronic
- KaLia Burnette, MEng – Sr. Research Associate at Biostage, inc.
- John Foy, MEng –Sr. Analyst, Global MedTech Strategy
- Kyle Murdock, MS
- Talia Vaughn, MS
