Dr. Laura Pietrosimone’s research agenda focuses on developing biopsychosocial interventions to address the lasting physical and psychological consequences of both acute and chronic lower extremity injuries. She is particularly interested in exploring how both laboratory biomechanics measurement and real-world physical activity assessments intersect and developing innovative, personalized rehabilitation strategies to promote movement and optimize patient quality of life. Her work is primarily focused on athletic and active populations who experience sports-related traumatic injury and chronic overuse injury, particularly ACL injury and lower extremity tendinopathy, respectively, but she is passionate about inter-disciplinary initiatives that promote wellness and physical activity across many populations with musculoskeletal conditions. In particular, she works closely with the Division of Sports Medicine and the interdisciplinary team at the Duke Sports Science Institute and with the Michael W. Krzyzewski Human Performance Lab (K-Lab) to drive patient-centered clinical research in orthopaedics and sports medicine.
Current Research Studies
Developing a Novel Clinical Care Model for Chronic Patellar Tendinopathy Utilizing Whole Person Healthcare
NIH/NIAMS 1K23-AR081932-01A1
Principal Investigator
Development of a Risk Assessment Tool to Enhance Physical Resilience in Older Adults following Orthopedic Surgery for Acute Injury: A Feasibility and Acceptability Pilot Study
Duke Pepper Center Pilot and Exploratory Studies Award, P30 AG028716
Co-Principal Investigator
Characterizing Changes in Knee Joint Loading with Wearable Sensor Technology following an Experimental Knee Joint Effusion
Principal Investigator
Perseverance following ACLR: Changes Over Time and its Relationship to Clinical Measures
Principal Investigator
Past Research Studies
Validation of an Evidence-Based Return to Sport Decision Tool after ACL Reconstruction
Funding: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
Co-Investigator (Site PI for Duke University) (PI: Mark Paterno)
A multi-site project with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Ohio State University, and High Point University
Load Characteristics and Responses in Male Athletes with Patellar Tendinopathy Foundation for Physical Therapy, PODS II Scholarship
Principal Investigator