BIOE Seminar Series: Chair & Professor Robin Queen, PhD, FACSM, FIOR, FASB, FAIMBE, FBMES

Built to Move, Designed to Adapt: Optimizing Human Function

Abstract: The human body can be described as a complex machine—an intricately coordinated system in which countless components move both independently and in concert to enable everyday activities that healthy individuals rarely stop to consider. My work centers on understanding the human musculoskeletal system, what happens when that system is disrupted by injury, and how we can design effective rehabilitation strategies and assessment tools to restore and optimize function.

My research spans a broad range of populations, from healthy individuals to patients with joint pathology, including—but not limited to—ACL injuries and joint replacements. One of the most compelling aspects of working with human subjects is observing how individuals adapt to pain or injury: the compensatory strategies they adopt, how those strategies evolve over time, and what happens once pain is resolved and recovery begins.

This seminar will highlight work from my collaborative teams focused on assessing movement and loading symmetry and the development of clinically accessible tools for evaluating these outcomes to evaluate recovery across diverse patient populations. I will show the many ways that principles of biomechanics can be leveraged to inform rehabilitation program design, with the goal of restoring more typical movement patterns and reducing maladaptive compensations.

Looking ahead, I will also share my vision for future work that expands in several new directions. These include studying movement and stability in aging populations, particularly during tasks performed on complex or unpredictable surfaces that better reflect real-world challenges; integrating psychological factors such as fear, confidence, and perceived readiness into our understanding of injury and recovery; and advancing biomechanical assessment through emerging technologies—from markerless motion capture to instrumented movement assessments outside the laboratory. Together, these efforts aim to create a more comprehensive, accessible, and human-centered approach to understanding movement, injury, and recovery.

Biography: Dr. Robin Queen is the Bertha Lamme Professor of Engineering and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The Ohio State University, where she provides strategic leadership for one of the nation's leading biomedical engineering programs while also advancing interdisciplinary research at the intersection of engineering, orthopaedics, rehabilitation, and human movement science in the Science of Translational Rehabilitation, Injury, and Data-Driven Evaluation (STRIDE) Lab. 

Prior to joining the faculty at Ohio State, Dr. Queen served as the L. Preston Wade Professor of Engineering and the director of the Kevin P. Granata Biomechanics Laboratory at Virginia Tech and was previously the director of the Michael W. Krzyzewski Human Performance Laboratory at Duke University in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. 

Dr. Queen’s interests are in whole body mechanics with an emphasis on loading symmetry, functional outcomes and rehabilitation following surgical interventions. Dr. Queen has published more than 170 peer reviewed manuscripts, maintains an externally funded research program, has served as a standing member of the Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Sciences [MRS] study section at the NIH and is a Fellow in five professional societies (ACSM, ASB, ICORS, AIMBE, BMES). Dr. Queen was awarded the Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award (2017) for her work in ankle arthritis, the ORS Adele L. Boskey, PhD Award (2020) from the ORS and the Pytel Award from the American Society of Biomechanics (2023) in recognition of her outstanding and sustained commitment to mentorship and demonstrated track-record of impactful research. 

A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Queen is committed to developing the next generation of engineers, scientists, and physician-scientists. She has mentored numerous undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, and clinical trainees who have gone on to successful careers in academia, healthcare, and industry. Dr. Queen is an active leader in the biomedical engineering and orthopaedic research communities. She has served in numerous national leadership roles and is deeply committed to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation, and excellence in research and education.