Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering, UCLA
Dr. Sangiorgio is the Director of the Biomechanics Laboratory of the JVL Orthopaedic Research Center, located at Orthopaedic Institute for Children in downtown LA. In the last decade, Dr. Sangiorgio has conducted several preclinical studies to evaluate surgical procedures for pediatric deformity corrections, including spine deformity and clubfoot. She has coauthored several landmark publications on the biomechanics of scoliosis surgery and the outcome of clubfoot treated using minimally invasive methods. Since 2000, she has conducted numerous cadaveric and composite biomechanical experiments for preclinical evaluation of fixation of total joint replacement components. Her focus has been on the design, performance, and initial stability assessment of joint replacement implants as well as spine arthroplasty devices. In addition to research activities, Dr. Sangiorgio has designed and teaches a course in orthopedic biomechanics for the UCLA Bioengineering Department. This course covers the biomechanics of natural and artificial joints, and the evaluation of biomaterials for wear, tribology, biodegradation, and biocompatibility. Dr Sangiorgio received her MS in 2002 and PhD in 2006 in Biomedical Engineering from UCLA.