A University of Miami College of Engineering professor is helping an institute in India develop a biomechanics program after being selected for the prestigious Fulbright Specialist Program. Francesco Travascio, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is spending forty days at Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology in Patiala, India, this summer sharing his 20 years of expertise in bone, joint and soft tissue biomechanics.
“This Fulbright program offers a great opportunity to establish a foundation with one of India’s leading engineering institutes for future partnerships in education and research,” said Travascio, who directs the college’s Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory and has secondary faculty appointments in the Department of Industrial and System Engineering and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Miller School of Medicine. “My background includes extensive international training in Europe and now I am enjoying being immersed in India’s culture.”
Travascio received the three-year Fulbright Specialist Program award this spring from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Scholarship Board based on his academic and professional achievements, and ability to foster long-term collaborative relations. He was one of 400 U.S. citizens chosen to share their expertise with host institutions this year.
At Thapar Institute, Travascio has led seminars in occupational and experimental approaches to musculoskeletal biomechanics, as well as a series of lectures on biomechanics of soft tissues. He is also learning about the institute’s research projects, including an innovative approach to reducing bone necrosis, the death of tissue due to lack of blood supply. “Biomechanics is gaining more attention from India’s researchers and educators,” he said. “I am impressed with how fast and efficiently the institute is growing a program in orthopedic biomechanics.”
Noting that Thapar Institute is aiming at becoming a national center for orthopedic research, Travascio said Patiala is already home to the India’s National Institute of Sports (NIS), which is the academic division of the Sports Authority of India, with programs in all the Olympic sports. “Throughout India, there is increasing investment in competitive sports,” he added. “So this is a very good time for Thapar Institute to develop its program and establish a relationship with the University of Miami.”
A native of Italy, Travascio earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Naples Federico II, before joining UM’s Ph.D. program in biomedical engineering. After working as a biomedical applications engineer at MAKO Surgical Corp., Travascio joined the faculty of the College of Engineering in 2012. He has written more than 140 scholarly publications and is associate editor of the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.
At the University of Miami, Travascio conducts research in three areas: orthopaedic biomechanics with a focus on spine and knee joints; occupational biomechanics to prevent or mitigate risks of injuries in the workplace; and sports biomechanics, developing systems for monitoring and improving the performance of athletes and reduce their risk of injury. He recently completed a project on tissue engineering of the meniscus funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Travascio is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and Associate Director of Research of the Max Biedermann Institute for Biomechanics at Mount Sinai Medical Center Miami Beach, an institute conducting research projects in collaboration with academic institutions across the country.
