— College of Allied Health Professions — Research — ACL Team

ACL Team

Drs. Wellsandt & Tao Discuss Basketball Injuries

Welcome from the ACL Team

Why do we do what we do? In short, to better the patient experience and outcomes after injury. Our primary goals are to:

Understand and optimize outcomes after lower extremity musculoskeletal injury, specifically anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Promote a safe return to pre-injury activities, lifelong physical activity and function, and long-term joint health.

How do we do this? We use a patient-centered and interdisciplinary approach to ask relevant research questions and seeks answers through rigorous and sound methodological design and analysis using the following tools:

Biomechanical movement analysis
Physical activity monitoring
Clinical testing measures such as isokinetic muscle strength testing
Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Body fluid biomarkers analyses.

Studies

ACL-WALK

Walking and Loading after Knee Injury - Goal: To determine how physical activity and movement patterns during walking contribute to cartilage breakdown in the knee after ACL injury.

Optimizing Movement After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

The purpose of this study is to develop physical therapy treatments that help patients re-learn how to use their knee without compensations so they can successfully go back to sport and other activities.

Movement Pattern Classification using a Wireless Knee Device after ACL Injury

Our team is developing a wearable knee device to measure knee performance in real-world settings.

Sports Medicine Research Fellowship

The UNMC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Physical Therapy Program have ongoing positions for a sports medicine research fellowship to participate in a growing sports medicine research team representing collaborations between UNMC Physical Therapy, Orthopaedic Surgery, and Radiology.

Position Details and Goals

This is a one-year position. The sports medicine research fellow will assist with ongoing and developing clinical research projects within the UNMC Clinical Movement Analysis Lab. The goals of the program are to strengthen and individual’s knowledge and skills within orthopaedics and sports medicine and to enhance their Curriculum Vitae to successfully match into medical or physical therapy school, residency, orthopaedic surgery or otherwise. Third or fourth year medical students are invited to apply to strengthen their application for the Orthopedic Residency Match. Other students will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Fellows have the opportunity to engage in clinical activities, regular didactics and interact with residents and graduate students.

Mentorship

The research fellow will work directly with an interdisciplinary mentorship team. Primary mentors will be Matthew Tao, MD, Associate Professor in UNMC’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Elizabeth Wellsandt, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS, Associate Professor in UNMC’s Physical Therapy Program and Director of the UNMC Clinical Movement Analysis Lab.

To Apply

Email Dr. Elizabeth Wellsandt the following:

Resume/CV
Cover letter with your background and interest in this position
Two references with contact information

Elizabeth Wellsandt, PT, DPT, PhD, OCS

Associate Professor

Dr. Elizabeth Wellsandt is an Associate Professor in the physical therapy program in the College of Allied Health Professions at UNMC.

Send Email

Phone: 402-559-4309

Team Members

Health and Wellness Clinical Research Lab
Clinical Movement Analysis Lab
University of Nebraska Medical Center
1036 Student Life Center
Omaha, NE 68198

UNMC Return-To-Sport Testing After Knee Surgery

Return-to-sport testing at UNMC includes muscle strength, jumping performance, biomechanics, knee function, and confidence testing in our state-of-the-art lab.