Tweet to @spinesinspace Jeannie Bailey, PhD, (@spinesinspace) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF and Director of the Physical Function and Biomechanics Research Core within REACH (UCSF Core Center for Patient-centric, Mechanistic Phenotyping in Chronic Low Back Pain). She received her BS from the University of California, Berkeley and PhD from the University of Washington. She completed her post-doctoratal training within the UCSF in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and was a CTSI TL1 Precision Health Fellow. Her research explores novel methods for identifying clinical-relevant biomechanical phenotypes and exploring potential interactive mechanisms between separate musculoskeletal pain phenotypes. Her collaborative research team is part of the Musculoskeletal Research Consortium (METRiCS), where she is actively developing, testing, and deploying precision-based digital health technology to enhance both clinician and patient engagement in treatment and recovery. She is jointly appointed within the UC Berkeley Bioengineering Program and the UCSF Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. |
Current Lab Members
Our CRC
Emily Chin is the Clinical Research Coordinator for the Bailey Lab. She works on the patient-facing side of research, focusing on recruiting participants and collecting clinical data to support ongoing studies. Emily earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. With a passion for helping others, she aspires to pursue medical school or a PhD and contribute to orthopaedic clinical research, aiming to leverage engineering principles to improve patient outcomes. When she’s not working, Emily enjoys rock climbing, skiing, and adventuring in the outdoors.
Graduate Students/PostDocs
Girish Viraraghavan is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF. He received his bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from India and his PhD from Drexel University. His current research focuses on using marker-based and markerless motion capture to understand differences in movement patterns in patients with spine and hip pain. His research expertise includes finite element modeling, surgical simulations using patient-specific modeling, computer vision, and machine learning.
Alexis Camacho is a PhD Candidate in the Rehabilitation Science program at UCSF. She earned her BS and MS in Exercise Science from Cal State Long Beach. Before starting her PhD, she spent 4 years as a Lecturer in Human & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Southern California, where she taught undergraduate anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics labs. Her dissertation explores how muscle quality and biopsychosocial factors influence biomechanical recovery following minimally invasive pain-alleviating treatment for chronic low back pain. By integrating MRI-based muscle quality measures with movement analysis, her work aims to uncover the mechanisms linking muscle health to movement restoration and functional recovery. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the Bay Area with her golden retriever, Charlie.
Medical Students
Aidan Foley (@aidanfoley_) is a medical student at UCSF School of Medicine. He received his BA In Philosophy from Yale University and his Pre-Medicine Post-Baccaluaureate from Bryn Mawr College. His current research is built on his interests in orthopaedic outcomes, motion analysis, biomechanics and bioengineering, and joints and muscles. When Aidan isn't studying or contributing to orthopaedic reserach he can be found playing basketball and spending time outdoors.
Lucas Dziesinski is a medical student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York and is a visiting scholar at UCSF. He received his BS in Business Administration and Finance from the University of San Francisco and his Pre-Medicine Post-Baccaluaureate from Columbia University. Lucas is currently using novel MRI image analysis techniques to understand paraspinal muscle fat distribution and its relation to biomechancial function. Lucas's main focus wasn't always medicine. Before he started medical school, his career was in aviation as an airline pilot and flight instructor. When he's not studying, flying, or coding, Lucas spend his time playing with synthesizers.
Shahab Yazdanpanah is a medical student at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). He received his BS in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine and MS in Leadership and Health Systems Sciences from NEOMED. He is interested in both basic and clinical orthopedics; projects he has worked on have involved osteoarthritis and orthobiologics in animal models, as well as motion analysis and rehabilitation in patients with musculoskeletal conditions. Outside of research and medicine, Shahab regularly enjoys watching sports (Football, Formula 1), weightlifting and staying active, and going to see the biggest movies of the year in-theaters with family and friends.
Aniket Pratapneni is a medical student at the UCSF School of Medicine. He received his BS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. His current research is focused on applying quantitative techniques, including signal processing, network theory, and machine learning, to motion capture data in order to understand the impact of low back pain on biomechanics. He spends his free time hiking, playing basketball, and reading science fiction.
Undergradute Students
Jonathan Varcados is an undergraduate student at Pomona College studying Neuroscience. He conducts research at the UCSF Digital Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab, where he collaborates with Dr. Jeannie Bailey, orthopedic surgeons, and medical students on biomechanics research focused on orthopedic recovery and motion analysis. When he’s not studying or working on research, Jonathan can be found competing as a member of the Pomona-Pitzer Football team, volunteering in his community, or enjoying nature.
Megha Rajanikanth (@megha.ai) is a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle. She primarily works on digital biomechanics data analysis as well as the telehealth application, OrthoCAP, focusing on improving user accessibility. After graduating, she hopes to pursue a PhD and continue promoting affordable and consistently available healthcare. Apart from school and research, Megha can be spotted on the rugby pitch, cheffing it up with friends, or crocheting and watching her favorite shows on her incredibly comfortable couch!
Lab Alumni
Erin Archibeck is a UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering PhD student at the Berkeley Biomechanich Lab. She is co-advised by Dr. Grace O'Connell and our lab's own Dr. Jeannie Bailey. Erin received both her BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Her current research focuses on utilizing spinal and lower extremity motion in conjunction with the onset of pain to improve the understanding of hip-spine pathology, compensatory mechanics, and the source of axial lower back pain. Erin's inital interest in biomechanics came from her love of running. She spends a lot of her free time exploring different Bay Area running trails with her dog, Roo.
Jessica Ornowski is a Staff Research Associate in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF. She received her BS in Bioengineering with a Minor in Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley. While working in this lab she has devolped and analyzed the efficacy of different algorithms used to quantify muscle fat in clinical MRI sequences. She also assists lab members in general data analysis and anatomical image segmentation. When she's not working Jessica loves being outside as much as possible, whether that's running, hiking, skiing, playing soccer, or just hanging out in the park with friends.