(Press-News.org) Biomedical engineering professor Silvia Salinas Blemker, widely regarded as a leader in her field, has been elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, recognizing her ability to turn research into tools that make a tangible difference. Her work zeroes in on muscle health, offering tools to help athletes bounce back, patients recover and researchers dive deeper into understanding muscle diseases.
At the core of Blemker’s contributions is her development of advanced techniques quantify and understand muscle using a combination of imaging and advanced modeling and data science techniques. For example, she pioneered the development of a technology to transform MRIs into 3D analyses of musculature. This technology provides healthcare providers with a detailed understanding of an individual’s muscle health, supporting personalized injury management, performance optimization and even surgical planning.
One of Blemker’s key patented methods is “Image-based Identification of Muscle Abnormalities.” Developed at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, this technology uses advanced imaging and analytics to provide a detailed look at muscle health. Think of it like a body scan that gives you the inside view of each of your muscles — suddenly, the sources for imbalances, asymmetries, and strength deficits become clear. It’s already being used to support professional athletes recovering from injuries, patients’ neuromuscular disease, and more.
“If you can see someone’s muscle health more clearly, you can treat it more effectively by targeting the problematic areas in a personalized fashion,” Blemker said.
Blemker didn’t just invent the technology — she helped launch it into the world. In 2013, she co-founded Springbok Analytics, Inc., where the AI-driven imaging tool has been commercialized for use in elite sports and the life sciences. Springbok now employs a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists and developers, working to help athletes optimize performance and researchers study conditions like facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD).
The company’s work has caught the attention of major organizations like the NFL and NBA, which use the technology to monitor and enhance athlete recovery. At the same time, Springbok is advancing research into muscle disease biomarkers, aiming to improve diagnostics and accelerate drug development.
Jennifer L. West, Dean of UVA’s School of Engineering, highlighted Blemker’s impact: “Silvia’s work exemplifies what’s special about UVA Engineering — innovations that start with deep technical expertise and go on to improve lives. Her ability to turn research into practical applications is inspiring.”
Springbok Analytics is also boosting the Charlottesville area’s growing Biohub. By creating high-skill jobs and fostering innovation, the company is contributing to the region’s reputation as a center for biotech and medical research. Its collaborations with local institutions and global partners alike highlight how UVA research can support economic growth while solving real-world challenges.
Blemker’s other achievements include being inducted as a Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2019. In 2021 she was elected Fellow of the American Society of Biomechanics. She also received the Hartwell Foundation Biomedical Research Award and recently won the American Society of Biomechanics Goel Award for Translational Biomechanics.
At UVA Engineering, we are building a brighter future through engineering for the greater good. Our mission is to make the world a better place through bold research and world-class education, putting people at the center of innovation. Our vibrant, diverse community attracts outstanding students and faculty from around the world to our internationally recognized education and research programs, where we are making groundbreaking discoveries in fields including artificial intelligence, hypersonics, cancer research and more. UVA Engineering is part of the top-ranked University of Virginia and is distinguished by a community of care where collegiality, support and engineering ethics thrive.
END
University of Virginia's Silvia Blemker recognized by NAI for advancing muscle health through innovation
2024-12-11
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New study provides a picture of preconception health across three generations in the UK
2024-12-11
A new study details generational health trends among adolescents and young adults in the U.K. The study, published December 11, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Olivia Righton from King’s College London, U.K., and colleagues, has broad implications for reducing health disparities and designing targeted public health interventions.
Optimizing health in women and men before conception can improve pregnancy outcomes, reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases in both parents, and improve childhood health. Prior research has shown that many women ...
US veterans report average happiness levels of 5.41 out of 7, with greater happiness most associated with reporting greater purpose in life, lower depressive symptoms, and higher optimism, emotional s
2024-12-11
U.S. veterans report average happiness levels of 5.41 out of 7, with greater happiness most associated with reporting greater purpose in life, lower depressive symptoms, and higher optimism, emotional stability, and resilience
###
Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0313609
Article Title: Happiness in US military veterans: Results from a nationally representative study
Author Countries: U.S.
Funding: Preparation of this report was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 1IK1CX002532-01 (PJN). Funders did not play any role in the ...
Tattoo or not tattoo: Testing the limits of beauty in body art
2024-12-11
German survey respondents rated images of tattooed models as less beautiful than images of the same models with no tattoos, however younger people, tattoo artists and those with body art tolerated more ink, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on December 11, 2024 by Selina M. Weiler and colleagues from Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Germany.
Tattoos are a millennia-old practice estimated to adorn up to one in four people in the world today. The 1950s saw a resurgence of this once-marginalized medium in Western culture, with widespread acceptance ...
New study reveals unique insights into the life and death of Stone Age individuals from modern-day Ukraine
2024-12-11
A research group led by Johannes Müller at the Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, at Kiel University, Germany, have shed light on the lives of people who lived over 5,600 years ago near Kosenivka, Ukraine. Published on December 11, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, the researchers present the first detailed bioarchaeological analyses of human diets from this area and provide estimations on the causes of death of the individuals found at this site.
The people associated with the Neolithic Cucuteni-Trypilla culture lived across Eastern Europe from approximately 5500 to 2750 BCE. With up to 15,000 inhabitants, some of their mega-sites are ...
Feeling itchy? Study suggests novel way to treat inflammatory skin conditions
2024-12-11
A new approach to treat rosacea and other inflammatory skin conditions could be on the horizon, according to a University of Pittsburgh study published today in Science Translational Medicine.
The researchers found that a compound called SYM2081 inhibited inflammation-driving mast cells in mouse models and human skin samples, paving the way for new topical treatments to prevent itching, hives and other symptoms of skin conditions driven by mast cells.
“I’m really excited about the clinical possibilities of this research,” said senior author Daniel Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D., professor ...
Caltech creates minuscule robots for targeted drug delivery
2024-12-11
In the future, delivering therapeutic drugs exactly where they are needed within the body could be the task of miniature robots. Not little metal humanoid or even bio-mimicking robots; think instead of tiny bubble-like spheres.
Such robots would have a long and challenging list of requirements. For example, they would need to survive in bodily fluids, such as stomach acids, and be controllable, so they could be directed precisely to targeted sites. They also must release their medical cargo only when they reach their target, and then be absorbable by the body without causing harm.
Now, ...
Noninvasive imaging method can penetrate deeper into living tissue
2024-12-11
Metabolic imaging is a noninvasive method that enables clinicians and scientists to study living cells using laser light, which can help them assess disease progression and treatment responses.
But light scatters when it shines into biological tissue, limiting how deep it can penetrate and hampering the resolution of captured images.
Now, MIT researchers have developed a new technique that more than doubles the usual depth limit of metabolic imaging. Their method also boosts imaging speeds, yielding richer and more detailed images.
This new technique does not require tissue to be ...
Researchers discover zip code that allows proteins to hitch a ride around the body
2024-12-11
Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have discovered an 18-digit code that allows proteins to attach themselves to exosomes - tiny pinched-off pieces of cells that travel around the body and deliver biochemical signals. The discovery, published in Science Advances, has major implications for the burgeoning field of exosome therapy, which seeks to harness exosomes to deliver drugs for various diseases.
“Proteins are the body’s own home-made drugs, but they don’t necessarily travel well around the body,” said Dr. Michael Rudnicki, senior ...
The distinct nerve wiring of human memory
2024-12-11
The black box of the human brain is starting to open. Although animal models are instrumental in shaping our understanding of the mammalian brain, scarce human data is uncovering important specificities. In a paper published in Cell, a team led by the Jonas group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and neurosurgeons from the Medical University of Vienna shed light on the human hippocampal CA3 region, central for memory storage.
Many of us have relished those stolen moments with a grandparent by the fireplace, our hearts racing to the intrigues of their stories from good old times, recounted with vivid imagery ...
Researchers discover new third class of magnetism that could transform digital devices
2024-12-11
A new class of magnetism called altermagnetism has been imaged for the first time in a new study. The findings could lead to the development of new magnetic memory devices with the potential to increase operation speeds of up to a thousand times.
Altermagnetism is a distinct form of magnetic order where the tiny constituent magnetic building blocks align antiparallel to their neighbours but the structure hosting each one is rotated compared to its neighbours.
Scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Physics and Astonomy have shown that this new third class ...