Fellowship of Orthopaedic Researchers

Samantha holds a BSE and MSE in biomedical engineering from Tulane University and serves as the Director of Biomechanics and Laboratory Operations at FOR. In this role she is able to utilize her twenty-plus years of experience in the execution and management of translational orthopaedic research and development projects. Samantha has been responsible for laboratory operations at FOR since it’s founding in 2000. During her tenure at FOR, Samantha has overseen the expansion of both the research capabilities and size and scope of the laboratory facilities.

As part of her research activities, Samantha manages projects as diverse as the development of motion-based disc replacement devices and the design of tests for a novel knee device in cadaveric limbs subjected to high-speed impact. Samantha also participates in the development and implementation of the FDA regulatory pathway for devices and instruments developed at FOR.

Prior to her position at FOR, Samantha worked as a research scientist at Osteotech, Inc. (now part of Medtronic) and at Tulane University School of Medicine in the biomaterials laboratory at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. She has diverse expertise stemming from that time in which she studied bone morphogenetic protein implants and carriers, hydroxyapatite coatings, dental implant design, spine device design and biomechanics, bone graft and bone graft substitutes, bone blood flow, modulation of bone and cartilage healing with ultrasound, and pyrocarbon materials and implants. Samantha acted as the clinical trial coordinator for the study of recombinant BMP-7 in the first human clinical trial of its kind. She has actively published and presented her studies in the scientific literature and meetings.