Frank A. Pintar, PhD
Founding Chair, Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering; Professor, Neurosurgery
Locations
- Zablocki VA Medical Center
Neuroscience Research Labs – Research 151
5000 W. National Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53295
Education
BS, Marquette University, Milwaukee WI, 1982
Biography
Dr. Pintar is the Founding Chair of the Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Over the years, Dr. Pintar has served as a research mentor to over 50 graduate students, post docs, residents, fellows, and junior faculty in the medical and engineering schools. Dr. Pintar has held numerous committee positions within the Medical College of Wisconsin, including chair of the Faculty Benefits committee.
He has been active as a member of grant review teams (e.g., CDC, NIH, NIDRR) and other scientific organizations (e.g., Cervical Spine Research Society, Stapp Association) and received grant awards from NIH, VA, CDC, DOT, DoD, and foundations. He has authored more than 500 research publications, including two books on head and neck trauma and over 320 peer-reviewed journal papers. He is the principal investigator of the US-DOT-NHTSA-sponsored MCW CIREN Center, of which there are seven in the nation.
Dr. Pintar conducts collaborative projects with the Comprehensive Injury Center through the departments of Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, and Trauma Surgery. He has also helped to mentor residents and fellows from Otolaryngology, Orthopedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Emergency Medicine. He participates as a faculty member of the Neuroscience Research Center.
His current research interests include the biomechanics of brain and spinal cord injury, mechanics of spine surgical techniques, computer finite element modeling of the cervical spine, and motor vehicle crash trauma. He has received numerous awards and is a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine and a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
He is the co-Director of the ZVAMC Neuroscience and Biomechanics Research Laboratories, which is a collaboration between the Marquette-MCW Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and MCW's Department of Neurosurgery. It is the only academic lab that includes a full-scale crashworthiness facility, sled lab, spine biomechanics lab, stem cell lab, neurobiology lab, tissue/culture lab, and neurohistology lab and conducts research on levels from micro to macro.
Honors and Awards
2004 – Fellow, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
2006 – Excellence in Oral Presentation Award, Society of Automotive Engineers
2009 – Best Student Paper, Rocky Mountain Bioengineering Symposium
2010 – John Paul Stapp Best Paper, Stapp Car Crash Conference
2011 – Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
2012 – Award of Merit, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
2013 – Arnold W Siegel International Transportation Safety Award, Society of Automotive Engineers
2014 – Fellow, Society of Automotive Engineers
2017 - MCW Society of Research Excellence
2018 - AAAM Donald Huelke Lifetime Member Award
Research Areas of Interest
- Acceleration
- Accidents, Traffic
- Air Bags
- Biomechanical Phenomena
- Brain Injuries
- Cervical Vertebrae
- Computer Simulation
- Craniocerebral Trauma
- Fractures, Bone
- Lumbar Vertebrae
- Neck Injuries
- Seat Belts
Research Experience
- Biomechanical Phenomena
- Biomedical Engineering
- Brain Concussion
- Brain Injuries
- Engineering
- Fractures, Bone
- Fractures, Compression
- Head Injuries, Closed
- Internal Fixators
- Orbital Fractures
- Rib Fractures
- Rupture
Methodologies and Techniques
- Accidents, Traffic
- Animal Experimentation
- Blast Injuries
- Brain Concussion
- Brain Injuries
- Computer Simulation
- Finite Element Analysis
- injuries
- Injury Severity Score
- Materials Testing
- Mathematical Computing
- Rupture
Leadership Positions
- Chair, Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering
- Director, VA Neuroscience & Biomechanics Research Labs
MCW Program / Core Facilities
- VA Biomechanics Research Facilities
Educational Expertise
- Biomedical Engineering
- Engineering
- Internal Fixators
Community Partnerships
- Safe and Fast Extrication, New Berlin
Research Interests
The biomechanics of brain and spinal cord injury, mechanics of spine surgical techniques, military and motor vehicle crash trauma.
Publications
-
(LeSueur J, Koser J, Yoganandan N, Pintar FA.) J Biomech Eng. 2024 Jun 17:1-19 PMID: 38884993 06/17/2024
-
Small Female Occupant Response in Reclined and Upright Seated Postures in Frontal Impacts.
(Somasundaram K, Hauschild H, Driesslein K, Pintar FA.) J Biomech Eng. 2024 Mar 01;146(3) PMID: 37295932 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85184344225 06/10/2023
-
Sex-related disparities in vehicle crash injury and hemodynamics.
(Cronn S, Somasundaram K, Driesslein K, Tomas CW, Pintar F.) Front Public Health. 2024;12:1331313 PMID: 38560436 PMCID: PMC10978633 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85188905781 04/01/2024
-
Analysis of experimental injuries to obese occupants with different postures in frontal impact.
(Yoganandan N, Somasundaram K, Pintar F.) Accid Anal Prev. 2023 Dec;193:107294 PMID: 37722257 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85171782373 09/19/2023
-
Pelvis-Sacrum-Lumbar Spine Injury Characteristics From Underbody Blast Loading.
(Yoganandan N, Baisden J, Moore J, Pintar F, Vedantam A, Shabani S, Barnes D, Loftis K.) Mil Med. 2023 Nov 08;188(Suppl 6):393-399 PMID: 37948210 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85176449424 11/10/2023
-
(Chirvi S, Pintar FA, Yoganandan N, Joseph McEntire B.) Mil Med. 2023 Nov 03;188(11-12):e3447-e3453 PMID: 37552649 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85176509355 08/08/2023
-
(Somasundaram K, Hauschild H, Driesslein K, Pintar F, Richardson R, Parent D.) Accid Anal Prev. 2023 Oct;191:107185 PMID: 37429156 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85164213472 07/11/2023
-
(Gerringer JW, Somasundaram K, Pintar FA.) Accid Anal Prev. 2023 Sep;190:107157 PMID: 37336050 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85162174423 06/20/2023
-
(Yoganandan N, Humm J, Baisden J, Moore J, Pintar F, Wassick M, Barnes D, Loftis K.) J Biomech. 2023 Mar;150:111490 PMID: 36878113 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85149387118 03/07/2023
-
(Gerringer JW, Somasundaram K, Pintar FA.) ASME J. of Medical Diagnostics. Gerringer, J. W., Somasundaram, K., and Pintar, F. A. (October 9, 2023). Development and Validation of Nonhuman Primate Head-Neck Computational Model for Frontal Impact Injury Analysis. ASME. ASME J of Medical Diagnostics. August 2024; 7(3): 031003. 10/09/2023
-
(Somasundaram K, Humm JR, Yoganandan N, Moorcroft DM, Pintar FA.) International Journal of Crashworthiness. 2023;28(6):786-796 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85140844863 01/01/2023
-
Obese Occupant Response in Reclined and Upright Seated Postures in Frontal Impacts.
(Somasundaram K, Humm JR, Yoganandan N, Hauschild H, Driesslein K, Pintar FA.) Stapp Car Crash J. 2022 Nov;66:31-68 PMID: 37733821 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85150993131 09/21/2023