Dean Demetropoulos

Constantine “Dean” K. Demetropoulos is an expert in orthopedic biomechanics and human injury, particularly as they relate to warfighter protection and human performance. He is a member of the Principal Professional Staff at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), where he serves as the Lead Researcher in the Experimental Biomechanics of the Human Performance & Biomechanics Group in the Research and Exploratory Development Department. Dean has applied his knowledge and leadership to develop capabilities, including under-vehicle blast test devices, computational human body models and injury model validation techniques, that have positioned the JHU/APL as a leader in injury biomechanics. He first became involved in orthopedic research as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, and later, earned his Ph.D. in bioengineering from Wayne State University.

Education History

• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
• M.S., Biological Sciences, Wayne State University
• Ph.D., Bioengineering, Wayne State University

Work Experience

Lead Researcher Experimental Biomechanics, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY

Publications

Select Publications:

Yang KH, Shen KL, Demetropoulos CK, King AI, Kolodziej P, Levine RS, Fitzgerald RH, Jr. (1996) The Relationship Between Loading Conditions and Fracture Patterns of the Proximal Femur, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 1996 Nov; Vol. 118, No. 4 , pp. 575-8.

Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Grimm MJ, Khalil TB, King AI (1998) Mechanical properties of the cadaveric and hybrid III lumbar spines, Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Stapp Car Crash Conference, Tempe, Arizona, November 2-4, 1998, SAE Paper No. 983160, pp. 237-46.

Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Grimm MJ, Artham KK, King AI (1999) High rate mechanical properties of the Hybrid III and cadaveric lumbar spines in flexion and extension, Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Stapp Car Crash Conference, San Diego, California, October 25-27, 1999, SAE Paper No. 99SC18, pp. 279-94.

Truumees E, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Herkowitz HN (2002) Effects of Disc Height and Distractive Forces on Graft Compression in an Anterior Cervical Discectomy Model, Spine, November 15, 2002, Vol. 27, No. 22, pp. 2441-2445.

Truumees E, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Herkowitz HN (2003) Effects of a Cervical Compression Plate on Graft Forces in an Anterior Cervical Discectomy Model, Spine, June 1, 2003, Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 1097-1102.

Yang KH, Beillas P, Zhang L, Lee JB, Shah C, Hardy W, Demetropoulos CK, Tashman S, King AI (2003) Advanced Human Modeling for Injury Biomechanics Research, Digital Human Modeling for Design and Engineering (DHM), Montreal, Canada, June 16-19, 2003, SAE Paper No. 2003-01-2223.

Truumees E, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Herkowitz HN (2003) Failure of Human Cervical Endplates: A Cadaveric Experimental Model, Spine, October 1, 2003, Vol. 28, No. 19, pp. 2204-2208.

Guettler JH, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Jurist KA (2004) Osteochondral Defects in the Human Knee: Influence of Defect Size on Cartilage Rim Stress and Load Redistribution to Adjacent Cartilage, American Journal of Sports Medicine, September 2004, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 1451-1458.

Parnaik Y, Beillas P, Demetropoulos CK, Hardy WN, Yang KH, King AI (2004) The Influence of Surrogate Blood Vessels on the Impact Response of a Physical Model of the Brain, Proceedings of the 48th Annual Stapp Car Crash Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, 48: 259-77, November 1-3, 2004, Paper No. 04S-34. (Winner Best Student Paper)

Sundararajan S, Prasad P, Demetropoulos CK, Tashman S, Begeman PC, Yang KH, King AI (2004) Effect of Head-Neck Position on PMHS Kinematics During Low Speed Rear-End Impacts, Proceedings of the 48th Annual Stapp Car Crash Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, 48: 331-72, November 1-3, 2004.

Snedeker JG, Niederer P, Schmidlin FR, Farshad M, Demetropoulos CK, Lee JB, Yang KH (2005) Strain-rate dependent material properties of the porcine and human kidney capsule, Journal of Biomechanics, 2005 May;38(5):1011-21.

Demetropoulos CK, Truumees E, Herkowitz HN, Yang KH (2005) Development and Calibration of a Load Sensing Cervical Distractor Capable of Withstanding Autoclave Sterilization, Medical Engineering and Physics, 2005 May;27(4):343-6. Epub 2004 Dec 8.

Guettler JH, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Jurist KA (2005) Dynamic Effects of Contact Pressure and Effect of Graft Harvest at Osteochondral Donor Site in the Knee, Arthroscopy. 2005 Jun, No. 21, Vol 6, pp. 715-20.

Sundararajan S, Prasad P, Rouhana SW, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, King AI, Nolte L (2005) Characteristics of PMHS Lumbar Motion Segments in Lateral Shear, Proceedings of the 49th Annual Stapp Car Crash Conference, Washington, D.C., 49: 367-379, November 9-11, 2005.

Truumees E, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Herkowitz HN (2008) Effects of disc height and distractive forces on graft compression in an anterior cervical corpectomy model, Spine, Jun 1; 2008, Vol. 33, No. 13, pp. 1438-1441.

Witkowski GP, Bilkhu SK, Siskosky MJ, Gates ME, Demetropoulos CK, Fortin PT (2009) Effects of Hindfoot Constraint on Syndesmotic Displacement, Foot & Ankle International, 2009 Apr, Vol. 30, No 4, pp. 367-74.

Frush TJ, Fisher TJ, Ensminger SC, Truumees E, Demetropoulos CK (2009) Biomechanical Evaluation of Parasagital Occipital Plating: Screw Load Sharing Analysis, Spine, April 20, 2009, Vol. 34, No. 9, pp. 877-884.

Kippe MJ, Demetropoulos CK, Jurist KA, Guettler JH (2009) Modes of Failure in Acromioclavicular Joint Reconstruction: A Biomechanical Analysis of Clavicular Motion and its Role in Construct Failure, Arthroscopy, 2009 Sep;25(9):975-82.

Demetropoulos CK, Morgan C, Sengupta DK, Herkowitz HN, (2009) Development of a 4-Axis Load Cell Used for Lumbar Interbody Load Measurements, Medical Engineering & Physics 2009 Sep;31(7):846-51.

Gates ME, Kou JX, Demetropoulos CK, Jurist KA, Guettler JH (2009) The Effects of Zone-Specific Superior Labral Detachment on Biceps Anchor Stability, Am J Sports Med. 2009 Dec;37(12):2445-50.

Demetropoulos CK, Sengupta DK, Wiater BP, Truumees E, Knaub M, Abjornson C, Herkowitz HN (2009) Biomechanical evaluation of kinematics of the cadaver lumbar spine following disc replacement with the Prodisc-L prosthesis, Spine 2010 Jan 1;35(1):26-31.

Papaioannou YP, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH (2009) Predicting the effects of knee focal articular surface injury with a patient-specific finite element model, The Knee 2010 Jan;17(1):61-8.

Francke EI, Demetropoulos CK, Agabegi SS, Truumees E, Herkowitz HN (2010) Distractive Force Relative to Initial Graft Compression in an In Vivo Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Model, Spine 2010 Mar 1;35(5):526-30.

Sohn DH, Balasubramaniam S, Demetropoulos CK, Yang KH, Guettler JH, Jurist KA (2010) Biomechanical Verification that PCL Reconstruction is Unnecessary in the Muscle-Stabilized Knee, Orthopedics. 2010 May 12;33(5).

Sengupta DK, Demetropoulos CK, Herkowitz HN (2011) Instant axis of rotation of L4-5 motion segment–a biomechanical study on cadaver lumbar spine, Journal of the Indian Medical Association 2011 Jun;109(6):389-95.

Quatman C, Kiapour A, Myer GD, Ford KR, Demetropoulos CK, Goel VK, Hewett T (2011) Cartilage Pressure Distributions Provide a Footprint to Define Female ACL Injury Mechanisms. American Journnal of Sports Medicine, 2011 Aug ;39(8):1706-13.

Kersten AD, Fabing M, Ensminger S, Demetropoulos CK, Cooper R, Baker KC, Anderson K (2012) Suture Capsulorrhaphy Versus Capsulolabral Advancement For Shoulder Instability, Arthroscopy. 2012 Oct, No. 28, Vol 10, pp. 1344-1351.

Palepu V, Demetropoulos CK, Goel VK (2012) Biomechanics of Spinal Trauma. Indian Journal of Biomechanics. 2012 Dec, Vol 10, Issue 1-2, pp. 69-92.

Levine JW, Kiapour AM, Quatman CE, Wordeman SC, Goel VK, Hewett TE, Demetropoulos CK (2013) Clinically Relevant Injury Patterns Following ACL Injury Provide Insight to Define ACL Injury Mechanisms. 2012 Nov 9. [Epub ahead of print] Am J Sports Med. 2013 Feb;41(2), pp. 385 – 395.

Kiapour A, Kiapour AM, Kaul V, Quatman CE, Wordeman SC, Hewett TE, Demetropoulos CK, Goel VK. (2014) Finite element model of the knee for investigation of injury mechanisms: development and validation. J Biomech Eng. 2014 Jan;136(1):011002. doi: 10.1115/1.4025692. (Popular Content of the Month January 2014)

Kiapour AM, Quatman CE, Goel VK, Wordeman SC, Hewett TE, Demetropoulos CK. (2014) Timing sequence of multi-planar knee kinematics revealed by physiologic cadaveric simulation of landing: implications for ACL injury mechanism. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2014 Jan;29(1):75-82. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2013.10.017. Epub 2013 Oct 31. (Most Downloaded Article December 2013 – February 2014)

Quatman CE, Kiapour AM, Demetropoulos CK, Kiapour A, Wordeman SC, Levine JW, Goel VK, Hewett TE. (2014) Preferential loading of the ACL compared with the MCL during landing: a novel in sim approach yields the multiplanar mechanism of dynamic valgus during ACL injuries. Am J Sports Med. 2014 Jan;42(1):177-86. doi: 10.1177/0363546513506558. Epub 2013 Oct 11. (Most Read Article January 2014)

Kiapour AM, Wordeman SC, Paterno MV, Quatman CE, Levine JW, Goel VK, Demetropoulos CK, Hewett TE. (2014) Diagnostic value of knee arthrometry in the prediction of anterior cruciate ligament strain during landing. Am J Sports Med. 2014 Feb;42(2):312-9. doi: 10.1177/0363546513509961. Epub 2013 Nov 25.

Kiapour AM, Kaul V, Kiapour A, Quatman CE, Wordeman SC, Hewett TE, Demetropoulos CK, Goel VK. (2014) The Effect of Ligament Modeling Technique on Knee Joint Kinematics: A Finite Element Study. Appl Math (Irvine). 2014 May;4(5A):91-97.

Karami KJ, Buckenmeyer LE, Kiapour AM, Kelkar PS, Goel VK, Demetropoulos CK, Soo TM. (2014) Biomechanical Evaluation of the Pedicle Screw Insertion Depth Effect on Screw Stability Under Cyclic Loading and Subsequent Pullout. J Spinal Disord Tech. 2014 Oct 10. [Epub ahead of print]

Kiapour AM, Kiapour A, Goel VK, Quatman CE, Wordeman SC, Hewett TE, Demetropoulos CK. (2015) Uni-directional coupling between tibiofemoral frontal and axial plane rotation supports valgus collapse mechanism of ACL injury. J Biomech. 2015 Jul 16;48(10):1745-51. Epub 2015 May 29. (2014 ASB Journal of Biomechanics Award)

Kiapour AM, Kiapour A, Goel VK, Hewett TE, Demetropoulos CK. The Effects of Tibiofemoral Joint Subchondral Bone Anatomy on Medial Cartilage Loading: Implications for Knee Osteoarthritis Risk. Trans Orthop Res Soc 2016;41:35.

Kiapour AM, Demetropoulos CK, Kiapour A, Quatman CE, Wordeman SC, Goel VK, Hewett TE (2016) Strain Response of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament to Uniplanar and Multiplanar Loads During Simulated Landings: Implications for Injury Mechanism, Am J Sports Med. 2016 Aug;44(8):2087-96. doi: 10.1177/0363546516640499. Epub 2016 Apr 13. PMID: 27159285

Pietsch HA, Bosch KE, Weyland DR, Spratley EM, Henderson KA, Salzar RS, Smith TA, Sagara BM, Demetropoulos CK, Dooley CJ, Merkle AC (2016) Evaluation of WIAMan Technology Demonstrator Biofidelity relative to PMHS Response in Simulated Under-body Blast Events. Stapp Car Crash Journal, Vol. 60, Washington, D.C., November 7-9, 2016.

Danelson KA, Watkins L, Hendricks JJ, Frounfelker PS, WIAMan Case Review Team, Pizzolato-Heine KM, Valentine RM, Loftis KL. Analysis of the Frequency and Mechanism of Injury to Warfighters in the Underbody-Blast Environment. Stapp Car Crash Journal, Vol. 62, San Diego, California, November 12-14, 2018, pp. 489-513. (Included as part of WIAMan Case Review Team)

Slykhouse LR, Zaseck LW, Miller CS, Humm JR, Alai A, Kang YS, Dooley CJ, Sherman DC, Bigler B, Demetropoulos CK, Reed MP, and Rupp JD (2019) Anatomically-based skeletal coordinate systems for use with impact biomechanics data intended for anthropomorphic test device development,J Biomech. 2019 May 25. pii: S0021-9290(19)30374-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.05.032.

Zaseck LW, Bonifas AC, Miller CS, Orton NR, Reed MP, Demetropoulos CK, Ott KA, Dooley CJ, Kuo NP, Strohsnitter LM, Andrist JR, Luongo ME, Drewry DG, Merkle AC, Rupp JD (2019) Kinematic and biomechanical response of post-mortem human subjects under various pre-impact postures to high-rate vertical loading conditions. Stapp Car Crash Journal, Vol. 63, San Antonio, TX, November 11-13, 2019. Nov;63:235-266. PMID: 32311059

Ott KA, Drewry DG, Luongo ME, Andrist JR, Armiger RS, Titus JM, Demetropoulos CK (2020) Comparison of Human Surrogate Responses in Underbody Blast Loading Conditions. J Biomech Eng. 2020 Mar 12. doi: 10.1115/1.4046638. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32154843

In addition to the journal articles listed are over 100 published conference abstracts, 11 book chapters and 5 white papers.

Honors and Awards

• American Society of Biomechanics Journal of Biomechanics Award (2014)
• Herodicus Society and American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Herodicus Award (2013)

Professional Organizations

American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Society of Automobile Engineers