Luke Mattar receives NIH F32 Award

A prestigious fellowship is helping one postdoctoral associate at the University of Pittsburgh advance his career goals in biomechanics. 

Luke Mattar (BioE PhD ‘23), postdoctoral research associate in the Orthopaedic Robotics Laboratory, is a recipient of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award. Mattar will use this three-year award to investigate the effectiveness of knee braces in preventing and mitigating ligamentous injuries. 

“Going from my PhD to my postdoctoral position, I'm doing much different work now than I used to.” Mattar said. “For my PhD, I investigated changes in patient reported outcomes and in-vivo joint function in individuals with rotator cuff tears following exercise therapy using human movement analyses. For my postdoctoral work, I’ll extend my knowledge in solid mechanics through utilization of a robotic testing system and computational modeling to evaluate the effects of knee bracing on joint function and their ability to prevent medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligament injuries, especially in the context of athletics.”

The purpose of the NIH F32 postdoctoral fellowship is to enhance the research training of promising postdoctoral candidates who have the potential to become productive, independent investigators in scientific health-related research fields relevant to the missions of the NIH. For Mattar, this project will help him develop the additional skills he needs to become a productive researcher in the field of sports and injury biomechanics. 

“This award not only supports my ongoing research but helps equip me with essential skills to achieve my long-term goal of becoming an independent researcher in injury biomechanics,” Mattar said. “I'm honored to receive this award, and I’m truly grateful to both the NIH and to my mentors—Richard Debski, Volker Musahl, and Martin Fagerström— for this opportunity and for their invaluable support. I'm excited to continue advancing critical insights into sports injury prevention.”