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Director

Andrew E. Anderson, PhD


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Lab Staff

Lindsay joined the Anderson lab as an undergrad in 2017, happy to find herself immersed in an exciting mix of biomechanics, image processing, simulation and data analysis.  She enjoyed the ample opportunities to dive deep into data, so much so that she completed a master’s thesis within the lab.

After graduating with a dual BS/MS in Bioengineering, Lindsay worked as a Simulation and Analysis Engineer for Sarcos, a local robotics company (May 2020-January 2024). There, she helped evaluate and optimize designs by simulating use case scenarios in bespoke computer models (Simulink/Simscape, MATLAB, MuJoCo, and AnyBody).

In January 2024, Lindsay rejoined the Anderson Research group as a Research Associate, ready to tackle familiar challenges from new angles.

Outside of lab, Lindsay enjoys crafting (so many projects, so little time!), hiking, backpacking, climbing, and reading.

LinkedIn

lindsay.schuring@utah.edu

Jared Zitnay

Jared Zitnay, PhD

Research Scientist

Jared joined the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories in 2020 where he works with the research groups of Drs. Heath Henninger and Andrew Anderson.  Jared’s activities cover the range of research in the ORL and include supporting the research of undergraduate and graduate students, assisting human-subjects motion capture studies, conducting benchtop experiments, and developing tools for data processing and analysis.  Before joining the ORL, Jared earned his Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  As an undergraduate research assistant in Prof. Victor Barocas’ laboratory, he studied the mechanics of the intervertebral disc and facet capsular ligament of the lumbar spine.  Also, during his time in Minnesota, Jared worked as a student technician for the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s Tissue Mechanics Laboratory.  In 2014, he came to the University of Utah to pursue his PhD in Biomedical Engineering, under the mentorship of Prof. Jeff Weiss, investigating basic mechanisms of mechanical damage in tendons.  Through interdisciplinary collaboration with groups at the U of Utah and MIT, Jared’s research employed a novel triple-helical peptide hybridization method to detect denatured collagens and identified mechanical unfolding of the collagen triple-helix as a fundamental mechanism of damage in tendons.  In his free time, Jared enjoys exploring Utah’s mountains and deserts with his wife and dog and singing in a local community choir. 

Seth Kussow

Seth Kussow, BS

Graduate Research Assistant

From a young age, Seth had an interest in engineering and science and a fascination with sports and movement. As his high school years ended, Seth was introduced to Biomechanics and was thrilled there was a field that applied science and engineering to better understand movement. Following this passion, he attended Purdue University – Indianapolis, just 30 minutes from the Indianapolis suburb he grew up in. There, Seth received a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering. After graduating, he moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, to pursue his PhD, also in Biomedical Engineering. His dissertation explores novel methodologies to improve understanding of the kinematics associated with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome using biplane radiography. His fascination with understanding movement is furthered outside of his research through hobbies including rock climbing and yoga. In the future, Seth hopes to continue investigating movement and its role in musculoskeletal disease (as well as climbing as many rocks as possible in his free time). 

LinkedIn

seth.kussow@utah.edu

Graduate Students

Bergen Braun

Bergen Braun, MS

Graduate Research Assistant

Bergen was born and raised in Bountiful, Utah. During high school, she developed a keen interest in the intersection of engineering and medicine, which led her to pursue an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah. In the spring of 2021, she joined the Anderson Lab. As an undergraduate researcher, she focused on image processing and, for her senior thesis, developed a statistical shape model to better understand sex differences in the human pelvic bone. Fascinated by the research around her, she chose to continue her education as a PhD student in the Anderson lab after graduating with her BS in Biomedical Engineering in 2023. As a PhD student she is utilizing medical imaging and computational modeling to enhance our understanding of hip deformities. 

Outside of the lab, she spends her free time camping, hiking, and skiing.

LinkedIn

bergen.braun@utah.edu

Brooklyn Vargas

Brooklyn Vargas, BS

Graduate Research Assistant

Brooklyn grew up in Gypsum, CO. In 2023, she graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, she joined Dr. Andrew Anderson’s research group in pursuit of a PhD. Her current research focuses on better understanding femoroacetabular impingement syndrome through hip kinetics and kinematics. She uses a combination of medical imaging, motion capture, and modeling. Outside of research, Brooklyn loves to ski, hike, knit, and play her saxophone in the Utah Medical Orchestra.
 

LinkedIn

brooklyn.vargas@utah.edu

Olivia has been a Research Assistant in the Anderson Research Lab since Fall of 2023. She is currently pursuing a combined B.S./M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering with an emphasis in biomechanics. Her studies in biomedical engineering led her to the lab, where she was eager to apply her classroom knowledge to orthopedic research. Her research has culminated in an undergraduate thesis that used statistical shape modeling to investigate three-dimensional anatomical differences associated with developmental hip dysplasia. She is now pursuing her master’s research, which focuses on using statistical shape modeling to evaluate sidedness in athletes and examine how limb dominance may influence pelvis and femur anatomy, shape, and symmetry. In addition to her shape modeling research, Olivia has experience segmenting femur and pelvis bone and cartilage anatomies using both manual methods and the nnU-Net deep learning framework. Outside of the lab, Olivia enjoys skiing, baking, swimming, and spending as much time outdoors as possible. 

u1403949@utah.edu

Research Assistants

Allison Sveum

Allison Sveum

Research Assistant

Allison is a third-year biomedical engineering student at the University of Utah. Originally from Arvada, Colorado, Allison decided she wanted to come to the U to challenge herself by living in a new place while staying close to her roots in the mountains. During high school, she found passion for both biology and engineering which led her to find an intersection of the two in biomedical engineering. She joined the Anderson Lab in the spring of 2025 after realizing she wanted to learn more about orthopaedics and biomechanics. Allison spends her time in the lab segmenting and tracking the tibia, talus, and calcaneus for kinematic analyses, as well as processing motion capture data for full-body motion analysis. Outside of the lab, Allison loves to hike, swim, bake, and read. 

u1443870@utah.edu

Additional Research Assistants:

  • Katie Wise 
  • Rodrigo Perez De La Cruz
  • Andy Moore 
  • Grace Richards
  • John Cronin

Collaborators

Penny Atkins

Penny Atkins, PhD

Research Associate

https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/staff/penny-atkins 

https://www.sci.utah.edu/people/pennyatkins.html

Penny was born in Colorado and grew up throughout the Rocky Mountain states. She earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT in 2009 and then worked at the Idaho National Laboratory for four years.  Penny completed her PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Utah in 2018 under Dr. Andrew Anderson. Her graduate research applied a variety of experimental and computational methods to quantify population-based morphometrics and subject-specific biomechanics towards improving our understanding of the initiation and progression of hip diseases affecting young, active populations. For her postdoctoral research, Penny utilized high-resolution imaging to evaluate bone remodeling and healing in patients with radius fractures under Prof. Ralph Mueller at ETH Zurich and Inselspital in Bern, Switzerland. In late 2020, Penny returned to Utah as a Research Associate at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute with a continuing focus on advancing the computational methods used to understand hip and other orthopaedic pathologies.  Recently, she accepted a position as Associate Director of the Data Science Hub as part of the One U Initiative at the University of Utah. Outside of research, Penny enjoys spending time outdoors, especially while mountain biking or skiing.

u0879937@umail.utah.edu

(801) 587-5200

Collaborators

Stephen K. Aoki, MD


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Travis G. Maak, MD


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Christopher L. Peters, MD


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Charles L. Saltzman, MD


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