UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation professor and pediatric orthopedic medicine physician Blaise Nemeth, MD, has been selected to receive the Pediatric Orthopedic Medicine Trailblazer Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Orthopaedics.

The Section on Orthopaedics established the award to recognize Dr. Nemeth’s significant contributions to pediatric orthopedics and his leadership within the AAP. In particular, the award recognizes his instrumental role in establishing the Pediatric Orthopaedic Medicine Subcommittee, creating a dedicated space within the Section to advance non-surgical pediatric orthopedic care.

Through his leadership, Dr. Nemeth has helped elevate the importance of non-surgical orthopedics as an essential component of comprehensive pediatric musculoskeletal health. The Pediatric Orthopaedic Medicine Subcommittee has created new opportunities for collaboration, education, and professional engagement among physicians caring for children with musculoskeletal conditions.

This recognition also highlights Dr. Nemeth’s broader contributions to the growth of pediatric orthopedic subspecialty care and to the AAP’s mission of excellence in patient care, research, and education. His efforts have strengthened opportunities for both surgical and non-surgical pediatric orthopedic professionals to collaborate and advance care for children and their families.

“This award reflects not only your individual achievements but also the lasting and meaningful impact of your leadership on the broader pediatric orthopedics community,” the AAP wrote.

Dr. Nemeth will receive the Trailblazer Award during the 2026 AAP National Conference & Exhibition in San Diego. The award will be presented on Sunday, October 4, with his accomplishments also celebrated at an award dinner on Saturday, October 3.

The UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation congratulates Dr. Nemeth on this well-deserved honor and celebrates his contributions to pediatric orthopedic medicine, education, and professional leadership.

Research Associate Jie Deng, MD, PhD, has received a UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Pilot Award to advance innovative research to improve how quantitative ultrasound (QUS) imaging assesses tendon health and healing. Dr. Deng’s project will investigate what QUS measurements reveal about the underlying biological and mechanical properties of tendons. 

Using two advanced imaging and testing platforms developed by the research team, the study will directly connect ultrasound-derived metrics with collagen fiber organization and tendon viscoelastic properties. The team will study 10 cadaveric patellar tendons using shear wave elastography, mechanical testing, and advanced microscopy. By linking these complementary measurements, the researchers hope to establish a stronger foundation for using QUS metrics as imaging biomarkers of tendon health.

This pilot study could provide critical preliminary data for future research on tendon injury, personalized rehabilitation, and precision monitoring of healing and recovery.

Gait and movement disorders associated with chronic stress or excessive forces can limit physical activity, community accessibility, and quality of life. Evaluating these disorders, however, often requires access to specialized laboratories equipped with large motion-analysis systems. This research aims to determine whether wearable sensors could provide a more accessible way to assess movement and deliver feedback outside these specialized settings.

UW faculty with whom Dr. Deng is collaborating on this project are: Naoaki Ito, DPT, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation; Joshua Roth, PhD, an assistant professor in the Departments of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and Biomedical Engineering; Ivan Rosado-Mendez, PhD, an assistant professor in the Departments of Medical Physics and Radiology; and Kevin Eliceiri, PhD, a professor in the Departments of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering.

UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation’s Pilot Award Program supports the novel and developing research of department faculty and researchers who are early in their professional careers. Targeted research areas that advance the fields of orthopedics and rehabilitation include basic discovery research, patient-based clinical research, patient-centered outcomes research, dissemination and implementation research, and community engagement research.

Keith Knurr, DPT, PhD, SCS, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation and an Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) KL2 Scholar, has received a pilot award from ICTR to support innovative research exploring how wearable technology could help people modify their walking patterns and reduce stress on their knee joints. 

ICTR awarded five pilot awards in August 2026 to advance early-stage clinical and translational research at UW–Madison. Designed to support investigators’ career development and catalyze future funding, the awards provide up to 12 months of support for projects that seek to translate biomedical discoveries into practical health solutions.

Dr. Knurr’s project, “Feasibility of Real-time Wearable Kinematic Biofeedback to Modulate Knee Kinetics,” will investigate whether small, wearable motion sensors can provide real-time feedback to help individuals change their gait and reduce potentially harmful forces on the knee. Darryl Thelen, PhD, a professor and the chair of the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering, is serving as co-principal investigator.

Gait and movement disorders associated with chronic stress or excessive forces can limit physical activity, community accessibility, and quality of life. Evaluating these disorders, however, often requires access to specialized laboratories equipped with large motion-analysis systems. This research aims to determine whether wearable sensors could provide a more accessible way to assess movement and deliver feedback outside these specialized settings.

Ultimately, the study’s findings could inform new approaches to physical therapy and movement assessment for people with a range of gait and musculoskeletal disorders, while also laying the groundwork for future research and funding.

ICTR pilot awards are supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, which supports a national network of more than 60 academic medical institutions. Since the CTSA pilot program began at UW–Madison in 2013, ICTR has awarded more than $2.7 million across 55 projects focused on translational science.