News
Congratulations to Cara Lewis on her promotion to Full Professor!
April, 2025
Cara is the Director of the Human Adaptation Lab and professor in the Physical Therapy Department who has just been promoted to Full Professor! Her hard work, passion, and dedication to advocating for female athlete hip research in rehabilitation science are key driving forces in our laboratory. Very well deserved, Cara! Congratulations!
Human Adaptation Lab Celebrates National Biomechanics Day 2025!
April 23, 2025
The Human Adaptation Lab celebrated National Biomechanics Day for the third year in a row! Students from the BU Upward Bound Math-Science program visited the lab to learn about biomechanics and how this applies to daily life. Students observed motion capture processes and practiced using biomechanics terms to describe movement. Another huge shout-out to Avery Kratzer for organizing such a great event!
HAL Research Featured in the Arthritis Foundation Newsletter! 
April, 2025
Check out our Arthritis Foundation feature here!
If you want to be a part of the work we do and are interested in getting involved, fill out our eligibility screening form today!
Congratulations to Avery on her recent publication!
March 17th, 2025
The link to the article can be found here!
Cara Lewis Awarded for the FastOA Initiative
October 4th, 2024
The Arthritis Foundation has awarded Cara Lewis as part of their Osteoarthritis Clinical Trial Network initiative called FastOA. To carry out this initiative, the Human Adaptation Lab (HAL) at Boston University will be evaluating hip morphology and movement in young female athletes (18 to 30 years old).
Human Adaptation Lab Celebrates National Biomechanics Day!
The Human Adaptation Lab recently celebrated National Biomechanics Day with an outreach event to get young people excited about biomechanics research and careers. Students from Leicester Middle School in Massachusetts visited the Human Adaptation Lab, as well as the Infant Communication Lab and Movement & Applied Imaging Lab, at Sargent College for a day of learning about motion capture and ground reaction forces. A huge shout out to our very own Avery Kratzer for organizing this event!
Thank you to the Biomechanics Initiative and BU GWISE for supporting this event!
HAL Members Present at APTA CSM 2024
Several of our lab members presented their work at the APTA Combined Sections Meeting in February. Congratulations to everyone who presented!
Fang-Yu Syu: Differences in Characteristics among Females with Hip Pain Using Different Strategies to Increase Walking Speed
Brian Ebisuzaki & Adrien Pierce: Relationship Between Hip Joint Loading and Pain in Individuals with Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome
Tulasi Murthy, Shavonne Renfro, & Stephanie Grover: Effect of Plantar Flexion Moment Reversal on Ground Reaction Force and Center of Mass
Lauren Sara: Sagittal Plane Hip Position Affects Magnitude of Hip Rotation Range of Motion
Center for Multiscale & Translational Mechanobiology 2023 Symposium
This October, HAL members Ria Rao, Avery Kratzer, Fang-Yu Syu and Zoe Perkins attended the Center for Multiscale and Translational Mechanobiology symposium at Boston University. Ria and Avery presented their poster about the effect of ankle pushoff on frontal plane kinematics. Fang-Yu and Zoe presented their poster on strategies for increasing gait speed in females with hip pain. Congratulations to everyone who presented!
Lauren Sara is excited to participate in two career development opportunities
HAL member Lauren Sara is excited to participate in two career development opportunities: PERC, which is offered through the Boston University CTSI, and COMPASS, a national program offered by WashU in St. Louis. Both will prove valuable in moving her toward an independent research career. Congrats Lauren!
American Society of Biomechanics 2023 Meeting
Last week HAL members Ria Rao, Avery Kratzer, Fang-Yu Syu and Zoe Perkins attended the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics in Knoxville, TN! Ria gave a podium presentation about the effect of walking speed on hip moments in individuals with and without hip pain. Avery gave a podium presentation about the effect of ankle pushoff on frontal plane hip mechanics. Fang-Yu and Zoe presented their poster on strategies for increasing gait speed in females with hip pain. Congratulations to everyone who presented, and additional congratulations to Ria for receiving the ASB Student Travel Award to attend the conference!
