Tyler Clites, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has received a 2022 director’s new innovator award from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year, $2.4 million award will support Clites’ research on combining surgical and mechanical design to revolutionize limb salvage.
Clites, who also holds an appointment in the bioengineering department at the engineering school as well as the department of orthopaedic surgery at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, designs the implants by combining surgical and mechanical innovations in tandem — a field of study known as anatomics. Clites aims to improve the quality of life for patients by restoring function of their injured limbs and possibly preventing the need for amputation and prosthetic limbs.
Established in 2007, the award is part of the NIH’s common fund’s high-risk, high-reward research program to support exceptionally innovative high-impact research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received an NIH research project grant.
Read the full story about Clites’ award on the UCLA Engineering website.
