McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory > Elliott Lab > Wade Johannessen

Wade Johannessen

Graduate Student in Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania

HOMETOWN
Newtown, Pennsylvania

EDUCATION
Ph.D. Bioengineering 2006, University of Pennsylvania
B.S. Biomedical Engineering 2000, Johns Hopkins University

AREAS OF SPECIAL INTERESTS
Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Wade Johannessen is currently working toward the completion of his graduate studies in the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory.  He has completed multidisciplinary course work including Molecular and Cell Biology, Foundations of Engineering Math I, Quantitative Image Analysis, Advanced Statistics, Entrepreneurship in Biomedical Technologies, Orthopaedic Tissue Engineering, Finite Element Analysis, and Viscoelastic Modeling of Biologic Tissues.  Wade has defended his thesis proposal and is currently working toward the defense of his thesis during the coming academic year.

His research, under the direction of Professor Dawn Elliott, focuses on the biomechanics of the intervertebral disc.  Specifically, his thesis project incorporates mechanical testing and magnetic resonance imaging to gain insight into the relationships between altered disc mechanics and the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration.  The overarching hypothesis of his research is that disc degeneration begins with changes in the composition and structure of the nucleus pulposus which alter the loading environment of the disc and ultimately lead to degeneration throughout the disc. Outcomes from this research will direct the future development of emerging treatments such as total disc replacement and biologic disc repair strategies.

PUBLICATIONS

1. Johannessen W, Auerbach JD, Wheaton AJ, Kurji A, Borthakur A, Reddy R, Elliot DM, Assessment of Human Disc Degeneration and Proteoglycan Content Using T1ρ MRI. Spine, in press, 2005.
2. Johannessen W, Elliott DM, Effects of Degeneration on the Biphasic Material Properties of Human Nucleus Pulposus in Confined Compression.  Spine, in press, 2005.
3. Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Wright AC, Elliott DM, Intervertebral Disc Mechanics Are Restored Following Cyclic Loading and Unloaded Recovery. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 32(1):70-76, 2004.
4. Lynch, HA, Johannessen W, Wu JP, Jawa A, Elliott DM, Effect of Fiber Orientation and Strain-Rate on the Uniaxial Tensile Material Properties of Tendon. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 125:726-31, 2003.

CONFERENCE PAPERS

1. Johannessen W, Auerbach JD, Wheaton AJ,  Kurji A, Reddy R, Borthakur A, Elliott DM, Non-Invasive Determination of Nucleus Pulposus Proteoglycan Content Using T1ρ MRI.  Transactions of European Cells and Materials Conference VI: Spinal Motion Segment, 2005 (winner of the Hansjoerg Wyss Foundation Oral Presentation Award).
2. Johannessen W, Elliott DM, Mechanical function of non-degenerate and degenerate human nucleus pulposus is dominated by swelling pressure. Proceedings of the International Society for the Study of Lumbar Spine, Paper Number 99 (special emphasis poster), 2005.
3. Auerbach JD, Johannessen WJ, Wheaton AJ, Reddy R, Balderston RA, Elliott DM,
   A new quantitative measure of disc degeneration using T1ρ MRI.  Proceedings of the NASS 20th Annual Meeting, September-October, 2005.
4. Johannessen W, Elliott DM, Swelling Dominates Function of Human Nucleus Pulposus Even With Degeneration. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 185 (podium presentation), 2005.
5. Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Mills JR, Cloyd JM, Guerin HL, Elliott DM. Effect of Nucleotomy on Tension-Compression Behavior of the Intervertebral Disc. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 1585, 2005.
6. Pedowitz DI, Auerbach JD, Gibson BW, Vresilovic EJ, Guerin HL, Johannessen W, Wright A, Rogers K, Elliott DM. Correlation of MRI and Gross Morphologic Grading of Lumbar Intervertebral Discs. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 1587, 2005.
7. Johannessen W, Elliott DM, Effect Of Genipin On Confined Compression Properties Of Sheep Nucleus Pulposus. Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting, Paper Number 92, 2004.
8. Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Seguritan JA, Elliott DM, Altered Nucleus Pulposus Mechanics Using Chondroitinase ABC And Genipin As A Model Of Early Disc Degeneration. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 1150, 2004.
9. Wright AC, Elliott DM, Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Wehrli FJ, MRI Measurement of Collagen Orientation in Whole Intervertebral Discs. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2004.
10. Elliott DM, Yerramalli C, Johannessen W, Auerbach J, Chin K, Vresilovic E, The role of nucleus pulposus mechanics in degeneration, Increased crosslinking and stiffness may be more important than decreased proteoglycan and pressure. Proceedings of the International Society for the Study of Lumbar Spine, Paper Number 104, 2004.
11. Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Wright AC, Wu AY, Elliott DM, Mechanics and Structure of the Disc Following Compressive Fatigue and Recovery. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 27 (podium presentation), 2003.
12. Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Wright AC, Elliott DM. Partial Nucleotomy Alters the Fatigue-Recovery of the Intervertebral Disc. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 1154, 2003.
13. Elliott, D.M., Lynch, H.A., Johannessen, W., Wu, J.P., Wu, A.Y., "Effect of Fiber Orientation and Strain-Rate on Nonlinear Tendon Tensile Properties," Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, 49th Annual Meeting, 2003.
14. Sarver JJ, Lynch HA, Wu JP, Johannessen WJ, Elliott DM, Mechanisms for Tendon Viscoelasticity Determined Through QLV Analysis of Transverse and Fiber-Aligned Samples. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 329, 2003.
15. Wright AC, Johannessen W, Elliott DM, Wehrli FW, Quantitative MR Microscopy of Anisotropic Dipolar Relaxation in the Intervertebral Disc. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2003.
16. Elliott DM, Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Effect of partial nucleotomy and fatigue on disc mechanics, Proceedings of the International Society for the Study of Lumbar Spine, Paper Number 100, 2003.
17. Lynch, HA, Johannessen W, Bey MJ, Elliott DM, Poisson's Ratio and Modulus for Tendon Transverse and Longitudinal Fiber Orientations. Transactions of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Paper Number 243, 2002.