Members of the NSF IMPACT Engine community gather at lakeside and indoor events.

ABOUT US

Indiana Musculoskeletal Health Partnership for the Advancement of Care & Treatment

Connecting Indiana’s people, expertise, and resources to advance musculoskeletal innovation.

Our Purpose

Build a coordinated engine for musculoskeletal innovation.

Indiana has deep clinical, research, manufacturing, workforce, and industry strengths. NSF IMPACT Engine brings those assets into a coordinated ecosystem so discoveries, technologies, talent, and partnerships can move more directly toward real-world use.

The Engine focuses on reducing fragmentation across sectors, connecting regional capabilities, and creating clearer pathways for partners who want to solve pressing musculoskeletal health challenges.

Coordinate Research, translation, workforce, and ecosystem partners. Explore Our Work

Our Region

Indiana is built for musculoskeletal innovation.

The Indiana MSK Innovation Triangle brings together academic, clinical, manufacturing, workforce, life sciences, and investment strengths that make the state a practical home for musculoskeletal health innovation.

Academic institutions with expertise in musculoskeletal health and engineering, including Indiana University, Purdue University, University of Notre Dame, Grace College, Ivy Tech Community College, Marian University, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Research centers such as the Regenstrief Institute, the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health, and IU Business Sustainability and Innovation Lab.
Major pharmaceutical, orthopedic, and device manufacturers, including Eli Lilly and Zimmer Biomet.
The Orthopedic Capital of the World in Warsaw, Indiana.
Heartland BioWorks, designated a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
A life sciences economy that made Indiana the largest exporter of life sciences products in the United States in 2024.
A growing venture network, with a record-breaking $1.05 billion in venture activity in 2024.
A global sports industry estimated to expand to $100 billion by 2030.

Ecosystem

IMPACT turns Indiana's regional strengths into coordinated pathways for moving ideas from need to deployment.

Regional coordination

Connects stakeholders across academic, clinical, industry, community, and public-sector environments.

Translation pathways

Supports movement from discovery and unmet need toward validation, commercialization, adoption, and impact.

Talent and workforce

Develops the people and skills needed to sustain Indiana's musculoskeletal innovation economy.

Our Partners

IMPACT brings together a growing network of academic, clinical, industry, community, nonprofit, and public-sector partners invested in musculoskeletal innovation.

NSF IMPACT Engine Leadership

Jim Lancaster

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Jim Lancaster

Interim CEO

Orthopedics Executive Leadership Team
ALL IN Kosciusko

Across more than three decades in medical devices, Jim Lancaster has led product development, global reconstruction, and platform technology initiatives within Zimmer Biomet while remaining closely engaged in Warsaw’s orthopedic community. That experience has given him a practical understanding of how clinical needs, engineering, manufacturing, and market adoption must converge for innovation to create durable value. As IMPACT’s Interim CEO, he brings the industry perspective and regional knowledge needed to align the Engine’s scientific ambition with the realities of execution.

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Melissa Kacena

Chief Scientific Officer

Melissa Kacena

CSO

Chancellor’s Professor Vice Chair for Research Orthopaedic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine

Director Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health

Melissa Kacena’s career spans biomedical engineering, translational bone research, and investigations into the relationship between bone and hematopoietic biology, with work in fracture repair that has led to patented innovations in orthopaedics. That perspective and record of innovation led to her role as one of the principal investigators on the NSF Engines proposal that established IMPACT. As IMPACT’s Chief Scientific Officer, she brings the scientific depth and cross-disciplinary leadership needed to unite researchers, clinicians, and industry around a shared agenda for musculoskeletal health.

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Jill Fehrenbacher

Chief Learning Officer

Jill Fehrenbacher

CLO

Assoc. Director of Basic & Translational Sci.
Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health

Assoc. Professor
Pharmacology and Toxicology, IUSM

Jill Fehrenbacher is a neuroscientist and educator whose work traces complex pain questions across patient-derived evidence, molecular signaling, sensory neurons, and behavior. That translational foundation, together with her leadership in basic and translational research at the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health, positions her to connect disciplines that often operate separately. As IMPACT’s Chief Learning Officer, she brings this perspective to building learning pathways that link education, research, and industry around the workforce Indiana’s musculoskeletal future requires.

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Amrou Awaysheh

Chief Technology & Innovation Officer

Amrou Awaysheh

CTIO

OneAmerica Foundation Endowed Chair Faculty Chair of Executive Degree Programs IU Kelley School of Business

Executive Director
IU Business Sustainability & Innovation Lab

Amrou Awaysheh is a Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management whose work focuses on how organizations convert data, technology, and new innovations into sustained operational performance. Through more than 80 global projects with Fortune 500 firms, he has translated research into actionable business solutions, while his leadership of IU’s Business Sustainability and Innovation Lab and IoT Energy Efficiency Lab places him at the intersection of industry, technology, and systems design. As IMPACT’s Chief Technology & Innovation Officer, he brings the discipline required to turn innovation into scalable capability.

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