From the University of Pennsylvania to Wake Forest, Hannah Zlotnick Brings Bioengineering to the Forefront of Orthopaedic Medicine
Authored by Coley Coleman and Thembi Ford
Following Margaret Billingsley’s move to UVA, the next installment of Launching the Next Generation of Bioengineering Faculty features Hannah Zlotnick (Ph.D. BE 2022), whose doctoral training at Penn laid the foundation for a research career at the intersection of engineering and clinical orthopaedics.
In August 2026, Zlotnick joined Wake Forest University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where she will establish a laboratory focused on developing materials to model, monitor, and mitigate orthopaedic diseases such as osteoarthritis and joint infection.
At Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, where her laboratory will be physically housed, Zlotnick’s research program will span tissue-on-a-chip platforms, animal models, and injectables for drug delivery and diagnostics. Her move to leading an independent group builds directly on the clinically immersive training she received during her Ph.D. in the Mauck Lab at Penn Bioengineering.
Learning Science Where Patients Are Treated
Few graduate training environments blur the line between bench and bedside as deliberately as the Mauck Lab. Physically situated across both the Penn School of Medicine and the Philadelphia VA Hospital, the lab gave Zlotnick something rare: sustained, hands-on exposure to the clinical realities that most early-career engineers encounter only in theory.
Working alongside orthopaedic residents completing their research year in the lab, Zlotnick learned not just the science of musculoskeletal repair, but the practical craft of surgery itself. She learned how to scrub into an operating room, how to close a wound, and how to handle specialized orthopaedic instruments.
“As scientists and engineers, we often work in siloed spaces, designing what we think is the next best thing, but do not consider simple bottlenecks to translation such as how will the surgeon suture this into the body?” says Zlotnick. “While in the Mauck Lab, I was fortunate to train alongside numerous orthopaedic residents who taught me those realities firsthand.”
That immersion translated directly into her Ph.D. research. A significant portion of her doctoral work involved large animal surgeries conducted in collaboration with clinical faculty, including Drs. James Carey and David Steinberg at Penn Medicine, as well as industry partners at Marrow Access Technologies, with the shared goal of advancing the gold standard in cartilage and osteochondral repair.
A Research Identity Rooted in Clinical Relevance
The throughline of Zlotnick’s career is a commitment to research that is not only scientifically rigorous, but genuinely useful in the clinic. That orientation was shaped across three exceptional laboratory environments: the Grodzinsky Lab at MIT, the Mauck Lab at Penn, and the Burdick Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Each experience deepened her appreciation for what it means to produce work that matters, and each contributed to the scientific and cultural sensibility she now brings to her own group.
“Your lab environment makes a huge impact on your undergraduate, Ph.D., and postdoc research career,” says Zlotnick. “I have been lucky to have been a part of three tremendous laboratories. Each of these groups has produced excellent science while keeping things fun in and out of the lab. I have learned so much from each of these environments and look forward to shaping the culture of my own laboratory.”
Her postdoctoral training also benefited from the support of the Schmidt Science Fellows program, a prestigious fellowship that funded the first half of her postdoctoral research and provided leadership development and mentorship that she credits as a meaningful part of her formation as a scientist and future faculty member.
Building the Zlotnick Lab, One Intentional Step at a Time
As Zlotnick establishes her presence at Wake Forest, her immediate priorities reflect both the practical and the philosophical dimensions of launching a new research group. On the practical side, she has already hired a laboratory technician and is actively recruiting undergraduate students and a postdoctoral researcher, with plans to bring on a PhD student in the next hiring cycle.
Alongside building her team, she is navigating the early-career grant landscape and establishing her lab space, two undertakings that demand equal parts strategy and patience. She is also investing time in conversations with faculty colleagues to explore potential collaborations and new project directions.
What ties these efforts together is intentionality. Zlotnick is not simply filling seats; she is assembling a community. “I am first interested in intentionally building our team of curious and creative scientists who are interested in clinically impactful research,” says Zlotnick. “There are lots of things to balance in the early stages of starting a laboratory.”
Advice for the Road Ahead
For researchers considering an academic faculty path, Zlotnick offers pragmatic and personal counsel. Seek out people who are just a step or two ahead of where you are, she advises, and gather perspectives broadly, because policies and norms vary widely across universities, departments, and countries. By collecting diverse input, aspiring faculty can filter for what actually applies to their own situation.
And when it comes to the faculty search itself, she encourages candidates to think beyond the CV.
“Throughout the faculty application process, reflect on both your research plan and your life plan,” says Zlotnick. “Apply to places that will enable you to be successful and happy in both your research and life.”
Gratitude Across a Career Built in Community
As Zlotnick steps into her faculty role, she looks back with appreciation at the many people who have carried her forward, including her family, mentors, and also, lab mates who showed up as supporters, motivators, and friends at every stage of her journey.
“I would like to thank my lab mates for their continuous support throughout my career in academia,” says Zlotnick.
Grounded in clinical purpose and energized by the culture she has both absorbed and helped to create, Zlotnick arrives at Wake Forest University School of Medicine ready to build something new while honoring everything that brought her there.