Newsletter Archives; Winter 1999
Alumni Spotlight: Olympic Gold for Dr. Woo
Dr. Woo has made far-reaching contributions to the field of sports medicine through his in-depth investigation of the complex function of knee ligaments and his wide spectrum of research in biomechanics. He pioneered the "Motion is Good" concept in rehabilitation, encouraging those with injuries to be active during the healing process. His research has fundamentally altered the ways physicians treat sports-related injuries. More recently, Dr. Woo and his team have used computer modeling together with the application of robotic technology to study joint mechanics and the effect of ligament injury on joint function.
Dr. Woo is currently Ferguson Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Vice Chairman for Research, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is also the Director of the UPMC Musculoskeletal Research Center where he leads a team of 10 basic science faculty, 8 orthopaedic clinical faculty, 3 staff bioengineers, 19 bioengineering graduate students and 15 undergraduate students, as well as 10 post-doctoral orthopaedic research fellows and 3 orthopaedic residents. He is also a Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering. In his 28 years of teaching he has supervised more than 200 bioengineering graduate students and othropaedic research fellows from 20 countries.
Professor Woo earned his BSME from Chico State College in 1965. He chose the University of Washington for his graduate studies. It was here that he began his specialization in bioengineering. According to Dr. Woo "I chose to study bioengineering primarily because Dr. Kobayashi (Professor Emeritus Albert S. Kobayashi, who retired in June 1997) told me to! Actually, he said 'I have an NIH Grant, do you want to work on it?' and I said yes. It may sound corny, but I grew up in an age where you trusted your advisor, not blindly, but faithfully. You believed your advisor was looking out for your interests and abilities..."
Concerning his years of study here at UW, Professor Woo remembers it as "Work, work, work! You come in before your advisor arrives and you don't leave before he goes home." A favorite memory of Dr. Woo is delivering papers to Professor Kobayashi. "He used to lock his door in the afternoon. We would knock, but no answer. Maybe he's taking a nap, I don't know! So whenever we wanted to show him something, we would slip it under the door, but leave a corner out and step on it. He would soon pick up the paper and we would say to him, 'we know you're in there!'"
Prior to his present position, Dr. Woo served as Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, and Director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Laboratory at San Diego Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He has held the office of President of the American Society of Biomechanics, the Orthopaedic Research Society and the International Society for Fracture Repair. He has also been the Chair of the Biomechanics Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the U.S. National Committee on Biomechanics. Dr. Woo is one of only 22 people who have been honored by being elected to two science academies. He has been elected to both the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Engineering.
Concerning the future, Dr. Woo has this to say: "After being director of the Musculoskeletal Research Center, which is a huge enterprise, I plan to step down and let other younger, dynamic, energetic people take over. I hope to return to a small lab setting with one or two students and a professional technical staff and do something creative. In particular, I would like to study how soft tissues attach to hard tissues and methods to improve these attachments. I want to continue to advise students and be available for advising-- but not too much."
