People

Maohua Lin, Ph.D. is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Florida Atlantic University and co-Director of Spine Innovation and Research Institution. His research integrates artificial intelligence, computational biomechanics, and wearable robotics, with a particular focus on cervical and lumbar spine disorders, medical devices, AI-enhanced finite element analysis, patient-specific modeling, and digital twins.

Dr. Lin also develops intelligent exoskeleton and rehabilitation robotic systems for the spine, lower limbs, shoulder, and hand. His interdisciplinary research bridges engineering, AI, and medicine to advance personalized healthcare, rehabilitation, and human movement assistance. He has contributed to more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations and serves as a Guest Editor for Sensors and Bioengineering.

Research Interests: AI-Driven Biomechanics, Spine Biomechanics, Finite Element Analysis, Medical Devices, Medical Imaging & 3D Modeling, Digital Twins, Exoskeletons, Wearable & Rehabilitation Robotics.

Medical Students

Rodrigo Vasquez, Hanna Neustadter, Sriram Srinivasan, Anthony Molle, Dominic Obratis : Effectiveness of Rigid and Soft Lower Limb Exoskeletons on Functional Mobility Outcomes in Neurologic Rehabilitation 

Victoria Robertson, Elizabeth Beaulieu, Marissa Middleton, Josiah Rohe, Caroline Smith: Bioactive Glass Versus Conventional Bone Grafting Materials for Long-Bone Fracture Nonunion and Fracture-Related Bone Defects

Joey, Zeena, Dom, Ryan, Victoria: Radiographic and Biomechanical Predictors of Persistent/Recurrent Postoperative Low Back Pain After Lumbar Fusion

Caroline Smith, Elizabeth Beaulieu, Michelle Schmidt, Justin Gumbs, Alberto Suarez: Clinical Outcomes of Biomaterial-Based Cartilage Repair Strategies for Knee Chondral Defects

Alberto Suarez, Justin Gumbs, Michelle Schmidt, Dominic Lafalce, Zeena Shather, Hanna Neustadter, Marissa Middleton: Sex Differences in Lumbar Facet Joint Morphology and Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis

Dominic Obraitis; Ryan Kotenko; Anthony Molle; Sriram Srinivasan; Rodrigo Omena: Correlation Between Plain Radiographic Stress Shielding and DEXA-Measured Periprosthetic Bone Loss After Cementless Total Hip Arthroplasty

Isabella Merem, Jaden Wise: A Novel Bone Marrow Aspiration Needle to Reduce Cortical Bone Contamination and Enhance Stem Cell Yield in Spinal Fusion/ Biomechanical Effects of Single and Multilevel Ion-C Posterior Cervical Facet Fixation: A Finite Element Analysis 

Christopher Franceschini, Angela Rodio: Revolutionizing spine surgery with emerging AI–FEA integration

Elizabeth Beaulieu, Marshall Daffner, Dominic Obraitis, Ridge Weston, Samip Patel, Zachary Comella: Advances in biomechanical modeling of lumbar spine diseases and tumors: gaps, opportunities, and AI integration

Ph.D./ Master Students

Rudy Paul- Development of AI System for Lumbar Spine

Nour Chammakhi– AI- Driven Lumbar Spine Exo-Skeleton Development

Angel Mendoza- Virtual Reality– Risk-aware assistive rehabilitation platform 

Shadman Saad: Spine Muscle with Exoskeleton

Colby Abuhoff: Lower-Limb Exoskeleton

Corey Abdool: VR-LLM Spine Exoskeleton

Padma Rao Pulicharla – AI-FEA for Spine Implants (Ion-C, Motion Preserved Device etc.)

Kseniia Lange– B-Man Needle and Hydrofiber

Zubair Ahmed- AI Spine Software Development

Adriana Bazoberry- AI for Elder People

Undergraduate

Rebecca Leal, Sabrina Brown, Amanda Mcfarlane: Shoulder Exoskeleton for at home rehabilitation  

Chase Kibben, Nick M, Colby, Corey: Lower-limb exoskeleton

Dani Smith-Scarleftt, Jake Rafford, Jeremy: Mechanical tester machine design for spine device 

Ivebens Eliacin– Software Development for AI spine

Jose Caraballo– Electrical Device for Lumbar Spine Exo-Skeleton

all

Gregory Adams – Lumbar Spine Exo-Skeleton 3D Model and Printing

John Zmarzly- AI for New Medical Devices

High/ Middle School Students

Xuanzong Zhang (American Heritage Schools, Palm Beach Campus)： LLM AI Spine+ Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

Audrey Rao (Pine Crest School): Thoracic Full Back Brace, B-Man Needle Simulation

Jonathan Wu (American Heritage Schools, Broward Campus)：SpineGPT

Maddox Tse (FAU High): Lower-Limb Exoskeleton

Joel Cardenas (American Heritage Schools, Broward Campus)：LLM Spine

Kabir Gandhi (American Heritage Schools, Broward Campus)：Exoskeleton Design

Paul Devices (Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School): AI Agent for Spine

Ally Cai (Spanish River Community High School): Spine Exoskeleton

Christina Koyama (American Heritage Schools, Palm Beach Campus): Facet Joint Spine Device Simulation, IONC Simulation

Shijin Liu  (American Heritage Schools, Broward Campus): AI Spine

Karry Wu (FAU High): Spine Exoskeleton 

Leon Rao (Pine Crest School): AI Robot

Thiago Perez (Olympic Heights Community High School): Electronic Device for Exoskeleton

Sofia Beltran (Archbishop McCarthy High School): Smart Walker

Neno Ou (Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts): Robot+ AI

Tony Ni (Bak Middle School of the Arts): 3D Design of Devices

Hanxi Chen (Polo Park Middle School): Spine Disease Research

Victoria Lin (Don Estridge Middle School): AI Spine and Simulation

Collaborator

Dr. Frank Vrionis - Director and neurosurgeon in Marcus Neuroscience Institute

Dr. Erich Menge - Physician in Spine

Dr. Yufei Tang - Associate Professor, Florida Atlantic University

Dr. Erik Engeberg - Professor, Florida Atlantic University

Dr. Javad Hashemi - Professor, Florida Atlantic University

Dr. James Doulgeris- CTO, Republic Spine Inc.

Dr. Ioannis Dimitri Papanastassiou – Department of Orthopedic, General Oncological Hospital Kifisias “Agioi Anargryroi,” Athens, Greece

Dr. Kamran Aghayev – Department of Neurosurgery, Biruni University, Istanbul, Turkey

Dr. Min Shi – Assistant Professor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Lab Photos

Sub-Group Meeting

Reach-Out/ Show Case

Invited Speaker

NASS Conference (2025/10, Colorado)

Asian Spine Conference (2026/06, Japan)

Other Conferences

Group Award and Publication Celebration