Dr. Acker is a biomechanist with expertise in exposures on the knee joint in both common and unique loading conditions in health and disease. Dr. Acker's research team aims to develop a thorough knowledge base for movement and loading of the knee joint during demanding activities of daily living and to use this knowledge to inform knee joint contact force modeling. Special focus is placed on the added challenges of modeling the knee joint in deep flexion. Research applications include: developing potential links between high demand knee joint mechanics and osteoarthritis progression and initiation; occupational task analysis and defining healthy knee function; and improvement of artificial knee replacements
