Henninger Lab Alumni
Henninger Lab Alumni
Fellows
Michael R. Karns, MD 2017
R. Judd Robins, MD 2015
Jeffrey M. Reagan, MD 2014
Raj S. Kullar, MD 2014
J. Benjamin Jackson III, MD 2013
Pete T. Scheffel, MD 2012
Medical Student
Mitch completed his Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah with an emphasis on biomechanics and a minor in chemistry. He began working with Dr. Henninger in 2018 as an undergrad and completed his capstone thesis on subsampling as a viable method to increase data processing efficiency in biplane fluoroscopy motion tracking. He began medical school at the University of Utah in 2021 with an intent to pursue a career in orthopaedic surgery and returns to Dr. Henninger’s lab as a gap year research fellow with the Shoulder and Elbow surgery division. His research includes loosening and failure analysis of anatomic arthroplasty glenoids as a function of inclined glenoid inclination, and biomechanics of lesser tuberosity osteotomy repair constructs. Outside of research, Mitch also enjoys medical device innovation and is a recipient of the “People’s Choice” and “Grand Prize Runner-Up” awards at the statewide Bench to Bedside bio-innovation competition. His most recent venture, OrthoBolt, is a novel take on an expanding pedicle screw, and the company is currently prototyping and seeking investor funding. Mitch is an avid University of Utah athletics fan and enjoys skiing, backpacking, road and trail running, including a recent rim-to-rim-to-rim ultramarathon in the Grand Canyon.
Brittany Percin is a medical student completing a research year at the University of Utah. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Caltech, where she researched cortical resection and neural circuits corresponding to fear in mice. During her undergraduate career, she also completed a summer of alcohol addiction research at the University of California San Francisco Neurology department. Brittany attends medical school at the University of California San Diego, where she has become involved in multiple clinical facing Orthopaedics research studies under the mentorship of Dr. Kent. She is now working on projects studying the biomechanics of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty as well as snapping scapula syndrome. Brittany enjoys skiing, swimming, and running with her dog.
Research Fellows
Dr. Ishikawa was born in Tokyo, Japan. He received a B.S. degree in Physical Therapy from International University of Health and Welfare (Japan) in 2008. After obtaining a physical therapy license, he started clinical career at Tohoku University Hospital (Japan). He gained clinical experience in orthopaedic field under the direction of Drs. Eiji Itoi (MD, PhD) and Nobuyuki Yamamoto (MD, PhD). In addition to clinical work, he continued to graduate school in 2010 and received a Ph.D. degree in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from Tohoku University (Japan) under the mentorship of Drs. Shin-Ichi Izumi (MD, PhD) and Takayuki Muraki (PT, PhD) in 2015. He has worked as a research fellow in the ORL since December 2020. His research interests are biomechanics of the shoulder and elbow, and rehabilitation for shoulder disorders and sports injuries. He enjoys travelling, jogging, and skiing in his free time.
Matthijs grew up in Aalter, a town between Ghent and Bruges in the Flemish part of Belgium. After obtaining his medical degree at the University of Ghent (Belgium) in 2013, he started his clinical training in Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology at the University Hospital of Basel (Switzerland) under the direction of Drs. Victor Valderrabano (MD, PhD) and Marcel Jakob (MD). Parallel to his residency program, he started a PhD at the University of Ghent focused on the study of the glenohumeral relationship in normal and arthritic shoulders by use of three-dimensionally reconstructed CT-scans under the mentorship of Drs. Lieven De Wilde (MD, PhD) and Alexander Van Tongel (MD, PhD). Driven by his interest in the morphology and biomechanics of the shoulder joint, Matthijs joined the ORL in January 2016 as a research fellow. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, jogging, skiing and music.
Dr. Thomas Suter was born in Freienwil, a small town near Zurich, Switzerland. Dr. Suter received his medical doctorate from the University School of Medicine in Zurich under the supervision of Drs. Jose Romero and Christian Gerber (Uniklinik Balgrist, Zurich). He completed his orthopaedic residency at multiple hospitals in Switzerland. Dr. Suter received his board certification from the Swiss Orthopaedic Society in 2012, followed by a fellowship in traumatology and shoulder/elbow surgery at Kantonsspital Baselland under the direction of Ariane Gerber Popp, MD and Beat Hintermann, MD. He has worked as a research fellow in the ORL since September 2013. Dr. Suter is interested in biomechanics and digital imaging processing, with concentrations in shoulder arthroplasty and subacromial impingement. In his free time Thomas likes travelling, skiing and hiking with his wife.
Jun Kawakami, MD 2019 – 2021
Nicola Krähenbühl, MD 2017 – 2018
Graduate Students
Breydon Hardy is a graduate student completing his dual Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering with an emphasis in Biomechanics. His undergraduate and now graduate research focuses on developing an alternative method to model muscle moment arms of the glenohumeral joint following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. He has been working with Dr. Henninger’s team since his sophomore year of undergraduate, and was the recipient of a UROP award for his research in 2023. In his free time, Breydon enjoys volunteering, skiing, and weightlifting.
Peyton King is a combined Bachelor's/Master's student at the University of Utah in Biomedical Engineering with a focus in biomechanics and a minor in Physics. She began working for Dr. Henninger during her sophomore year of undergraduate and was the recipient of a UROP award for her research in 2023. She is continuing to study longitudinal joint biomechanics of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty patients throughout her Master's. Outside of the Orthopaedic Research Lab, Peyton is the President of the Society of Women Engineers and the Vice President of Outreach for the Center for Medical Innovation's Bench to Bedside competition. She has a passion for medical device innovation and enjoys studying joint replacement biomechanics. During her free time, she enjoys reading, skiing, playing soccer, and spending time with friends and her cat.
Madelyn Stout is a graduate student at the University of Utah working towards a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. She received her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 2019. There she worked as an undergraduate researcher for Dr. Anton Bowden on complaint mechanism solutions in intervertebral disc replacements. After graduating with her bachelor's degree, Madelyn was accepted as a graduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a member of Dr. Eric Ledet's Innovative Medical Devices Laboratory, she designed a preliminary smart femur fracture fixation plate for quantifying fracture healing. Madelyn graduated with a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2021. Now in the UofU's Orthopeadics Research Laboratory, under the mentorship of Dr. Heath Henninger, she investigates the biomechanics of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. As an eager traveler, Madelyn has twice had opportunity to join her love of traveling with her education by joining a study abroad in Singapore in 2018 and completing an internship in Berlin, Germany in 2022. When she isn't studying or traveling, Madelyn enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with her family and her five pet reptiles.
Evan graduated from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Bioengineering in June 2018. During his undergrad he earned a position in the Pete & Rosalie Johnson internship program; working under Dr. Sandra Rugonyi (Ph.D.) at Oregon Health & Science University, working to characterize the computational flow mechanics of cardiovascular development in embryo. His second internship was in pharmaceutical research and development with Patheon (now Thermo Fisher Scientific), in Bend, OR. There he developed an optimized selection of spray-dried excipients for solid dose tablet production through his own design of experiment analysis. Upon graduation, he accepted a Research Assistant position at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; working as part of team developing a novel mechanical thrombectomy device for the removal of blood clots in ischemic stroke.
Evan is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Utah with a focus on medical device innovation and design. Evan currently works in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory under Dr. Heath Henninger, where he is studying the 3-D resting scapula position and it's implications for surgical techniques, and patient mobility pre and post-operatively.
Hema graduated from University of California, San Diego with a B.S. in Bioengineering in December 2013. She worked on Computational Fluid Dynamics and Cartilage Tissue Engineering projects at her undergraduate institution. As part of her senior design project under Dr. Alison Marsden, she made contributions to creating a diagnostic tool for thrombosis prediction in Kawasaki Disease patients using fluid flow simulations in the coronary arteries. She was involved in research at the Cartilage Tissue Engineering Laboratory under Dr. Robert Sah to study the mechanical properties of human knee cartilage and investigate the differences between normal and osteoarthritic cartilage. In addition to academic research she took an active part in campus organizations such as Engineering World Health and Society of Women Engineers. She gained experience in the applications of research through industry internships at Genentech Inc., Oceanside (CA) and Biological Dynamics Inc., San Diego (CA). She decided to pursue a PhD in Bioengineering and joined the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory to work under Dr. Heath Henninger studying biomechanics and kinematics of the human shoulder. She is currently involved in the dynamic shoulder scapula simulator project.
Tyler grew up along the Wasatch Front in Utah and earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2017 from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. As an undergrad, he was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering organizations. Tyler was active in their outreach programs to local elementary schools. These programs introduced young students to the basic principles of engineering and system control.
For his senior Capstone project, Tyler participated in Boeing’s AerosPACE program as a team project manager. During his time, he worked closely with Dr. Steven Gorrell (Ph.D.) and students from across the country in designing, building, and flying an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for emergency services applications. For three consecutive summers, Tyler interned with Janicki Industries designing and building ergonomic solutions to mitigate injury related to repetitive motion and updating controls for CNC systems.
Tyler is now pursuing a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah with a focus on machine design and controls. Currently, he is working under Dr. Heath Henninger (Ph.D.) in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, where he is studying the effects of glenoid inclination after shoulder replacement. Tyler also does mechanical design, modeling, and manufacturing for the shoulder simulator project.
Klevis graduated from the University of Texas, Austin with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in May 2007. Upon graduation, he worked in the software industry in various technical positions for 8 years. Afterwards, he decided to pursue a PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Utah starting in the Fall semester of 2015. Upon starting his PhD, Klevis worked at the Musculoskeletal Research Laboratories with Dr. Jeffrey Weiss studying the biomechanics of angiogenesis. In the Fall semester of 2016 Klevis joined the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory to work under Dr. Heath Henninger studying the biomechanics and kinematics of the human shoulder.
Chris grew up on Long Island, New York and earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Sustainable Engineering from SUNY Binghamton in upstate New York in 2013. During his undergraduate studies, he performed research in Fluid Mechanics under the supervision of Dr. Timothy Singler (PhD). Over the course of two summers, Chris interned as a Mechanical Engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, NY in the Superconducting Magnet Division under the mentorship of Michael Anerella (PhD). There, he worked in collaboration with BNL and the European Nuclear Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in order to develop the structural design for a superconducting magnet anti-hydrogen trap for research purposes. Immediately after graduation from SUNY Binghamton, he chose to pursue his PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Utah with a track in Orthopaedic Biomechanics. He is currently working under Dr. Heath Henninger (PhD) in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, where his focus is on the kinematics and biomechanics of the human shoulder, with a focus on reverse total shoulder arthroplasty and biceps tenodesis. Outside of his schooling and laboratory work, Chris stays active by playing soccer, snowboarding, mountain biking, and playing guitar.
Kaitlyn is a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. During her MASc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Victoria, she developed subject-specific musculoskeletal models of individuals after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty using biplane fluoroscopy kinematics and electromyography. She received her BEng in Mechanical Engineering at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, where her undergraduate research utilized FEA to validate analytical models of reluctance actuators for use in high-precision mechatronic systems. Kaitlyn is now interested in developing clinically interpretable computational models integrating in-vivo experimental data and analytical techniques. Her research hopes to improve understanding of upper limb dynamic function and quantify the mechanisms underlying compensatory movement patterns. Outside of the lab, Kaitlyn can be found exploring the outdoors, doing yoga, or crafting.
Residents
Joseph Featherall 2023-24
Anthony Montanez 2014-16
Jeremy Gilliland 2012
Undergraduates
Matthew Michaud 2021 – 2025 UROP Award Recipient 2021
Peyton King 2022 - UROP Award Recipient 2023
Breydon Hardy 2022 – UROP Award Recipient 2023
Tanner Ashby 2020 - 2022
Joshua McIntosh 2021 - 2022
Zachary Glenn 2019 – 2022
Mitchell S. Kirkham 2019 – 2021
Cameron Pascua 2020 - 2021
Brendan Oler 2019 - 2021
Jaren C. Forsyth 2019 – 2020
Spencer W. Jones 2018 – 2020
Corby J. Dixon 2018 – 2019
Gentry M. Feeney - UROP Award Recipient 2017 - 2019
Hanna K. Shluker - UROP Award Recipient 2016 - 2019
Zachary W. Wade 2017 - 2019
Joshua D. Johnson 2017 - 2018
William J. Lewis - UROP Award Recipient 2016 - 2018
Sarah E. Brady - UROP Award Recipient 2016 - 2017
Morgan T. Izykowski - UROP Award Recipient 2015 - 2017
Savanna M. Bennett 2016 - 2017
Spencer K. Kendell 2016 - 2017
M. Serhat Kariparduc 2016
Dallin Rees 2014
Sean T. Tagge, BS 2014
Xin Yang, BS - UROP Award Recipient 2012 – 2014
Kristen R. Petersen, BS 2011 – 2012