Our Team
Our team is an interdisciplinary group from mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, applied physiology & kinesiology, and computer science.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Kerry E. Costello
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Kerry E. Costello is the Director of the AI Biomechanics Lab at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on biomechanics, artificial intelligence applications in movement analysis, and osteoarthritis research.
Training:
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Boston University
- Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Dalhousie University
- M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Virginia Tech
- Fulbright Scholar, Human Movement Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- B.S., Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering, Duke University
Graduate Students
Alexandra Chertok
Ph.D. Student
Mechanical Engineering
Training:
- B.S.E., Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida
Fellowships & Funding:
- HWCOE Dean’s Research Award
- McJunkin Fellow
Ryan McCloskey
Ph.D. Candidate
Mechanical Engineering
Training:
- B.S.E., Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan
Dissertation:Evaluation of markerless motion capture for knee osteoarthritis: Efficiency, accuracy, and clinical insights
Fellowships & Funding:
- HWCOE Dean’s Research Award
Alexis Orr
M.S. Student
Biomedical Engineering
Training:
- B.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, 2026
Peter Schaefer
Ph.D. Candidate
Mechanical Engineering
Training:
- M.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida
- B.S.E., Biomedical Engineering, University of California Irvine
Dissertation:Knee osteoarthritis accelerometery: Exploring patterns of human activity
Kaitlin Southern
Ph.D. Candidate
Biomedical Engineering
Training:
- M.S., Biomedical Engineering, East Carolina University
- B.S., Engineering, East Carolina University
Dissertation:Identifying translational measures of osteoarthritic pain between preclinical models and patients
Co-mentored by:Dr. Kyle Allen
Fellowships & Funding:
- NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship
Undergraduate Students
Jack de Riesthal
Mechanical Engineering
Caiden Hyer
Biomedical Engineering
Komal Keesara
Mechanical Engineering
Ryder McComb
Biomedical Engineering
Salma Ouaakki
Biomedical Engineering & Economics
Zoe Struk
Mechanical Engineering & Music
Anthony Tivda
Biomedical Engineering
Laliv Vinarski
Biomedical Engineering
Alumni
Graduate Alumni
- Alex Gruber, M.S. APK (2024), B.S. APK (2023)
- Jenna Qualter, M.S. BME (2026)
Thesis: Considerations for holistic biomechanics assessment in knee osteoarthritis: Acceptability and pain measurement in a community-based, multi-activity biomechanics protocol
Undergraduate Alumni
- Ibraham Al Zbib, B.S. CS (2026)
- Jasmina Begovic*, B.S. MAE (2026)
- Jenna Bello, B.S. BME (2026)
- Tiffany Cheng, B.S. MAE (2025)
- Jayson Duran, B.S. MAE (2025)
- Kenneth Khong, B.S. MAE (2026)
- Sean Leapley†, B.S. MAE (2025)
- Syed Miqdad, B.S. CS
- Tanya Mirchandani, B.S. MAE (2026)
- Turiya Moka†, B.S. BME (2025)
- Anjali Natarajan†, B.S. BME (2025)
- Anish Nelluri, B.S. CS
- Alexis Orr†, B.S. BME (2026)
- Shane Rosenthal, B.S. MAE
- Zayne Shehadeh, B.S. MAE (2026)
- Jessie Shutzberg, B.S. MAE (2023)
- Will Taylor, B.S. APK (2026)
- Stephanie Wells, B.S. APK (2025)
* AI Scholar, University Scholar, or IDEA Scholar program participant
† Completed undergraduate honors thesis
Our alumni have gone on to various academic programs (including MS, PhD, and DPT training) and industry positions. Examples include:
- Duke University (Durham, NC)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)
- Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Italy)
- University of Colorado Anschutz (Aurora, CO)
- University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI)
- Arthrex (Naples, FL)
- Badger Athletic Performance (Madison, WI)
- ENERCON (Atlanta, GA)
- Johnson & Johnson MedTech (Raritan, NJ)
- Newell Brands (Atlanta, GA)
Interested in joining our team?
We welcome students and researchers who share our mission to understand and improve musculoskeletal health through AI and biomechanics.