The Orthotics and Prosthetics Foundation for Education and Research announced recipients of the 2025 Pilot and Early Career Research Grants. The $30,000 grants are awarded annually and are based on the scientific merit, clinical relevance of, and the extent to which the project aligns with the O&P Foundation research priorities.
Recipients include:
Stefania Fatone, PhD, BPO (Hons), Evaluation of a Prototype Socket Fit Testing System to Assess Coupling of the Prosthetic Socket in Individuals with Lower Limb Amputation
Fatone is a professor and associate chair in the University of Washington (UW) Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, program director of the UW O&P program, and director of the O&P Assessment Lab. She has nearly 30 years of experience conducting O&P research, including a broad range of experimental, qualitative, and review studies in areas such as transfemoral prosthetic socket biomechanics and design, orthotic management of upper motor neuron lesions, and partial foot amputation.
Anat Kristal, PhD, MSc-PT, Reactive Balance Control Mechanism of Microprocessor Knee and Non-microprocessor Knee Users
Kristal is an assistant professor at the University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy. Her primary research interests include developing tools to improve the measurement of health outcomes in pediatric and adult populations with lower-limb loss. Her current research is directed at studying reactive balance responses and fall risk in lower-limb prosthesis users, with the goal of identifying mechanisms that inform rehabilitation interventions to enhance prosthetic mobility and reduce falls. Her work has resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international scientific conferences.
Alexandria (Lexie) Mallinos, PhD, Applied Contact Loading of Functional ACL Orthoses and Their Effectiveness in Preventing Anterior Tibial Translation
Mallinos is an associate research scientist at Akron Children’s Hospital. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Akron, followed by a Master of Science in Orthotics and Prosthetics from Eastern Michigan University. She completed her doctoral degree in Applied Biomedical Engineering at Cleveland State University, where her groundbreaking research integrated finite element analysis into pediatric anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) biomechanics.
The Early Career and Pilot Research Grants are intended to help investigators who are less than ten years from their terminal degrees initiate lines of research that will be competitive for larger funding opportunities through funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, or the Department of Defense.
