THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY LOWER LIMB SYMPOSIUM

Mark Paterno

Dr. Paterno is a PT and a professor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. As a clinical scientist he has over 70 publications and 10 book chapters which focus on the area of outcomes after ACLR and pediatric sports medicine and he has lectured internationally. He currently serves as a manuscript reviewer for several orthopaedic and sports medicine publications, a founding member and second vice president for the Pediatric and Adolescent Research in Sports Medicine (PRISM) Society as well as a member of the ROCK group, which is an international, multidisciplinary group, dedicated to researching juvenile osteochondritis dissecans.

Joanne Parsons

Dr. Joanne Parsons' research program explores the use of resistance training to maximize health and performance as well as decrease sports injury risk across diverse populations. A critical piece of this work is considering and exploring how the pervasive gendered environments that surround girls and women may increase their risk of injury and affect participation and performance. Parsons’ clinical training and years spent working on sport sidelines heavily informs a focus on applied practice to ensure her work resonates with knowledge users in order to make a real world impact. 

Dustin Grooms

Dr. Grooms is a Professor in the Division of Physical Therapy at Ohio University and associate director of the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute. His doctorate is in health and rehabilitation sciences from the Ohio State University. He has clinical experience as an athletic trainer and strength coach and has degrees in athletic training, kinesiology, biomechanics and neuroscience. Currently his main research interest is how the brain and movement mechanics change after musculoskeletal injury and therapy.

Elanna Arhos

Dr. Arhos is a physical therapist and postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. She has been involved in researching clinical and biomechanical outcomes after ACL rupture and reconstruction. Her dissertation work from her PhD in Biomechanics and Movement Science at the University of Delaware focused on clinical factors associated with the development of posttraumatic osteoarthritis after ACL rupture, and gait adaptability after ACL reconstruction. She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals and presented her research at the national and international level. Dr. Arhos’ research has been supported by the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research and the National Institutes of Health. 

Laura Schmitt

Dr. Schmitt's first research area focuses on the neuromuscular, biomechanical, imaging and functional outcomes following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in children, adolescents and young adults. One objective of this longitudinal and prospective work is to provide evidence-based rehabilitation guidelines for return to sport following ACL reconstruction. The second objective of this study is to identify factors, early after ACL reconstruction, which may predispose individuals to articular cartilage degeneration and the early development of knee osteoarthritis. This work is collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. 

Her second research area focuses on the neuromuscular, biomechanical and functional outcomes of individuals with varying degrees of knee joint degeneration, from those with focal articular cartilage defects to end-stage knee osteoarthritis and total knee arthroplasty. The primary objectives of these studies are to inform medical decision-making and rehabilitation interventions that may optimize outcomes and promote long-term joint integrity in this patient population. This study is in collaboration among many departments and divisions at Ohio State including Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine, Mechanical Engineering and the Wright Center of Imaging and Biomedical Informatics.

Dr. Schmitt’s third research area focuses on the lower extremity neuromuscular control and biomechanics of children, adolescents and young adults who are obese. The findings from this study will provide insight into the musculoskeletal co-morbidities associated with childhood obesity, as well as into appropriate physical activity and exercise recommendations that promote weight management and maintain long-term joint integrity. This study is collaboration with Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Schmitt has received funding for her work from the National Institutes of Health, National Football League Charities Medical Research Program, and the DJ Orthopedics, LLC.

Matt Ithurburn

Matt Ithurburn, PT, DPT, PhD is the Director of Clinical Research at the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI). ASMI is an international leader in sports medicine research, focused on studying surgical and rehabilitation outcomes, biomechanics, and injury mechanisms to improve the prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries. In his role at ASMI, Dr. Ithurburn leads a multidisciplinary clinical research team managing multiple externally-funded studies and ongoing outcomes data repositories. Additionally, he further collaborates on several studies seeking to improve rehabilitation and return-to-sport success in individuals recovering from lower extremity injuries, including those with ACL reconstruction, femoroacetabular impingement, and hip dysplasia. In addition to his research involvement, Dr. Ithurburn is an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), teaching in the DPT program and mentoring PhD students.

Stephanie Di Stasi

Stephanie Di Stasi is an associate professor in the Division of Physical Therapy at The Ohio State University and principal investigator in the OSUWMC Sports Medicine Research Institute. Dr. Di Stasi’s research uses a combination of biomechanical assessments and functional performance testing for the mechanistic study of disability and joint degeneration following musculoskeletal injury. The overall goal of this work is to develop intervention strategies with the highest therapeutic potential. She serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, co-chairs the Research Committee for the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy (AASPT) and is a member of the International Hip-related Pain Research Network. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research, and the AASPT.

Jeff Taylor-Haas

Jeff Taylor-Haas, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS is a sports physical therapist at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Taylor-Haas obtained a Master of Physical Therapy degree from Saint Louis University in 2004 and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Temple University in 2013.  He is also a board-certified orthopedic specialist in physical therapy from the American Physical Therapy Association, a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength & Conditioning Association, and an Adjunct Faculty member at Mount Saint Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio for the department of physical therapy. Clinically, Jeff is the leader of the Runner’s Clinic, a multi-disciplinary injury clinic for adolescent runners, and specializes in performing 2D and 3D running gait analyses for injured and healthy adolescent long-distance runners.  Dr. Taylor-Haas also leads the division’s running research program, whose mission is to better understand the relationship among demographics, anthropometrics, functional measures, running mechanics, and injury in youth and adolescent runners.  An avid runner, Jeff has completed 15 marathons and is the proud father of four youth and adolescent running athletes.   

Shawn Hanlon

Dr. Shawn Hanlon is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado. He received his PhD in Biomechanics and Movement Science from the University of Delaware, where he conducted research identifying patient subgroups of Achilles tendinopathy and their implications for individualized treatment strategies. Dr. Hanlon is a certified athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist with extensive clinical experience in various sports settings. He is the owner of ATLAS Physical Therapy & Sports Performance, and a former head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine at Lincoln University. He has published several peer-reviewed articles on topics related to Achilles tendinopathy evaluation and individualized treatment strategies for patients across the lifespan. He is passionate about advancing the field of rehabilitation science through innovation, education, and service to the profession.

Sarah Wicks

Sarah is a licensed and registered dietitian and a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Medical Dietetics from The Ohio State University and is certified as an Exercise Specialist by the American College of Sports Medicine. She is an active member of the American Dietetic Association and its Sports and Cardiovascular Nutrition Practice group, boasting certification as a Weight Management Trainer by the American Dietetic Association. Furthermore, she is a Veteran Professional member of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietetic Association. 

Throughout her career, Sarah has worked closely with a diverse range of athletes, from PGA, NHL, and NBA professionals to collegiate and high school athletes, including Ohio State Athletics since 2004. Her passion and expertise lie in performance nutrition, weight management, and eating disorders.

In her free time, Sarah enjoys gardening, traveling, hiking, running, practicing Lagree Pilates, and spending quality time with her husband, George, and her two adult sons, Josh and Justin, both of whom were former Ohio State athletes on the men’s golf team.