CSIE:
Welcome to CSIE, the Center for Surgical Innovation and Engineering at Cedars Sinai’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery. At CSIE our goal is to integrate the concepts of engineering, physics, artificial intelligence, and data science with clinical science to develop better biomedical devices and wearables for solving health challenges.
Our SORG Algorithms will be back soon
our famous SORG algorithms will be available to use once again, better than before very soon! stay tuned!
Updates and news:

Seattle Science Foundation’s Podcast Spine Oncology Debates: AI In Spine Oncology and Beyond Webinar Discussion led by Dr. Joseph Schwab
Joined by Dr. Daniel Sciubba, MD, MBA of Northwell Health and Dr. Mohamed Macki, MD of Cleveland Clinic, this podcast episode covers many of the different ways physicians and companies are using AI and what the potential pitfalls are. This episode, as well as the ongoing series of this podcast, will continue to serve as a resource and reflection point while AI continues to advance in medicine.
- The Evolving Role of Immunotherapy in Primary Tumors of the Spine
- Summer 2025
We’re thrilled to welcome an incredible group of summer students and interns to the CSIE Lab for the coming months!
A warm welcome back to last year’s interns: Lily Keiderling, Ruth Berkun, Rachel Reyes Segura, Aadi Ajmire, and Natalie Verdugo, and a big welcome to our new members: Brandan Bright, Kite Ogawa, Sarvenaz Fatapour, Scott Scroggins, Carly Yen, Shriya Ahir.
Special thanks to our outstanding mentors: Dr. Amirhossein Yazdkhasti, Dr. Zahra Karimi, Dr. Ghazal Shabestanipour, @Isabel Hansman, Gage Olson and Helen Najjar, as well as to Brynna Steinhardt, CSIE’s exceptional project coordinator who keeps everything running smoothly and the team well-supported.
We’re proud to have such a multidisciplinary team tackling projects ranging from fundamental research to developing near-ready prototypes of innovative biomedical devices and technologies. Stay tuned for updates on the incredible work ahead!
Joseph Schwab and Hamid Ghaednia

- ORS 2025

On February 8th and 10th, the whole team showed up in Arizona for the 2025 Orthopaedic Research Society’s Annual Meeting to support Ruth and Amirhossein while they presented the lab’s 2 Posters: Quantitative Reflex Tests Using A Novel Acoustic-based Sensing System and A Novel Acoustic Wearable For Assessment Of Tendon Health And Loading Condition. Great job, everyone!
- CSIE presenting for the Next Gen Program
- Dr. Karimi at the International Science and Engineering Fair

It was an honor to serve as a judge at the 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles. This incredible event brought together 2,000 students and 700 judges from around the globe to present their projects across 22 categories. Witnessing the enthusiasm and ingenuity of the young generation of scientists, engineers, and enthusiastic global citizens in the making was truly exhilarating. The presentations were brimming with curiosity, a desire to deepen our understanding of the world and a commitment to improving the quality of life for all inhabitants of Earth.
As a judge, my primary responsibility was to identify the most creative ideas and exemplary scientific work. This involved evaluating and grading the quality of the projects through interacting with students, ensuring that ISEF provided an encouraging and educationally enriching experience for the participants. However, I cannot overstate the positive impact this experience had on me. Engaging with these budding scientists reminded me that there isn’t a single “correct” way to communicate science; the most important thing is that your communication is informative and true to your work. This experience also reminded me of the courage it takes to pursue academic research and where it all started for me: a science fair kid, passionate about physics projects, yearning to learn more and more about this world!






