Team
Loren Latta, Ph.D., P.E.
Loren Latta graduated from Michigan State University in 1966 in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the Pope Brace Company, an Orthopaedic appliance manufacturer, in July of 1967. In 1972 he joined the faculty of the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Miami. During the following 47 years in the Department of Orthopaedics he has co-authored 15 books in 6 languages, 59 chapters in books, 151 articles in scientific journals and over 700 published abstracts.
The greatest focus of his work has been trauma, but he has major focus also in spine, hand surgery, joint reconstruction and biomaterials, all in the field of biomechanics. He is co-founder of the Associaion for the Rational Treatment of Fractures and The Upwelling Foundation, Inc. He reviews articles for several scientific journals and is member of several scientific societies. He has worked with the Biedermann family for over 40 years.
Francesco Travascio, Ph.D.
Francesco Travascio graduated from the University of Naples Federico II in 2001 in Materials Engineering. At the same academic institution, he pursued a doctoral degree in Chemical and Materials Engineering, which he completed in 2004. After a short period of time, as invited researcher at the National Research Council of Canada, in 2006, he joined the Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami. From 2010 to 2012, he worked as Biomedical Applications Engineer at MAKO Surgical Corp., a company which developed a robotic intraoperative arm for hip and knee arthroplasty. Finally, in 2012, he joined the faculty of the College of Engineering at the University of Miami. During his 15 years in the field of orthopaedic biomechanics he has authored 2 books, 30 articles in scientific journals and over 70 published abstracts. The greatest focus of his work are biomechanics of the spine and joints. Other major areas of focus are regenerative medicine, biomaterials, and trauma, all in the field of biomechanics. He reviews articles for several scientific journals, is a member of several scientific societies, and serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for federal agencies in the US and abroad. Starting as a simple Ph.D. student, he has been working at MBI for almost 15 years.
Abeer Al-Barghouthi, B.S.
Abeer Al-Barghouthi graduated from Florida International University in 2018 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. During her senior undergraduate year, she completed an engineering capstone design project along with four other team members at MBI. Post graduation she immediately joined the Biedermann family and contributed to the publication of journal articles, abstracts and conference proceedings. She is currently pursuing her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, with a focus in hip and knee biomechanics.