Matthew J. Silva, Ph.D.

Matthew J. Silva, PhD, has been named the Julia and Walter R. Peterson Orthopaedic Research Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Silva, a biomedical and mechanical engineer, was installed as the first Peterson Research Professor by Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

“We’re very grateful for Dr. Peterson’s generosity to Washington University,” Shapiro said. “Dr. Peterson made contributions in his and his mother Julia’s names to the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery for more than 20 years, and those gifts helped lay the foundation for both the Peterson Hand Center and for this professorship.”

Silva conducts research in the field of skeletal mechanobiology — how bones respond to mechanical forces. His work addresses the clinical problems of osteoporosis and bone injury. He studies bone healing following stress fractures and conducts other studies that detail how bones change as we age and how it might be possible to make those aging bones stronger. He also studies the biomechanics of tendon healing.