Ajit Chaudhari, PhD, FACSM
Director of Faculty and Staff Affairs
Professor
HRS PhD Program
M and P Mentor Status
106 Atwell Hall
453 W. 10th Ave.
Columbus, Ohio 43210
Professional Areas of Interest
- Biomechanics of Human Movement
- Balance, Gait, and Falls
- Post-surgical Rehabilitation
- Inclusive Excellence in Hiring, Admissions, Promotion/Advancement, Classroom Instruction, and Workplace Culture
- Professional Leadership
Overview
Dr. Ajit Chaudhari has been a member of the faculty at Ohio State since 2006. His research focuses on the basic question: Can we better understand how musculoskeletal injuries and conditions happen by studying the human body as a mechanical system? In particular, Dr. Chaudhari is interested in the role of core stability in the prevention and treatment of injuries across the entire body in aging, chemotherapy, orthopedics, and hernia, and in understanding and improving balance, gait, and mobility across the lifespan. He has worked with athletes from several OSU and professional sports teams, as well as the Ohio State Dance department and BalletMet. His research has been sponsored by organizations such as the National Football League, National Institutes of Health, National Highway & Transportation Safety Administration, National Science Foundation and industrial sponsors.
Dr. Chaudhari has authored numerous articles and book chapters on the biomechanics of gait and athletic injury and is a reviewer for several sports medicine, kinesiology, orthopaedics and biomedical engineering journals. He is currently on the Executive Board of the American Society of Biomechanics and a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.
Recent Publications
Darabi, H., Arora, H., Farzadi, A., Minnema, A., Wilcox, J. T., Chaudhari, A. M. W., & Farhadi, F. (2025). Prediction of postural imbalance improvement after surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy. Journal of Neurosurgery. Spine, 43(6), 693–702. https://doi.org/10.3171/2025.5.SPINE2541
Diallo, M., Patrick, S., Evans, T., & Chaudhari, A. M. W. (2026). Comparing temporal characteristics of stepping-in-place and overground walking in healthy adults. Journal of Biomechanics, 194, 113036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2025.113036
Evans, T. V., Reissman, M. E., Reissman, T., Shelhamer, M., & Chaudhari, A. M. (2025). Auditory feedback effect on temporal patterns during self-pacing treadmill walking. PloS One, 20(11), e0335971.
Fujii, M., Chirumbole, S. G., Wagner, A. R., Caccese, J. B., Chaudhari, A. M. W., Wang, W., Lu, B., & Merfeld, D. M. (2025). Anterior-posterior and medial-lateral balance metrics are unchanged when two-dimensional pseudorandom motion perturbations are provided in semicircular canal coordinates. Frontiers in Neurology, 16, 1638493. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2025.1638493
Head, W., Kalsotra, S., Yu, M., Shannon, K., Edwards, P., Renshaw, S., Arhos, E., Wei, L., Di Stasi, S., Chaudhari, A., & Poulose, B. (2026). Functional Status after Ventral Hernia Repair: Longitudinal Trends and the Limits of Improvement. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. https://doi.org/10.1097/XCS.0000000000001910
Head, W., Satija, D., Shannon, K., Edwards, P., Renshaw, S., Arhos, E., Wei, L., Di Stasi, S., Chaudhari, A., & Poulose, B. (2025). Is there a link between physical function testing and ventral hernia size? Surgical Endoscopy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-025-12224-z
Recent Presentations
- Fujii, M., Chirumbole, S.G., Wagner, A.R., Caccese, J., Chaudhari, A.M., & Merfeld., D.M. (April 21-24, 2026) Adding platform and visual perturbations significantly increased postural responses. Society for the Neural Control of Movement, Kobe, Japan. Poster.
- Fujii, M., Chirumbole, S.G., Wagner, A.R., Caccese, J., Chaudhari, A.M., & Merfeld., D.M. (April 21-24, 2026) Reduce Reliance on Ankle Proprioception for Postural Control in Diabetes Mellitus. Society for the Neural Control of Movement, Kobe, Japan. Poster.
- Dalsemer R, Arhos EK, Wei L, Yu M, Chaudhari AMW, Poulose BK, Di Stasi S. “Early Post-Operative Predictors of Quality of Life Six Months after Ventral Hernia Repair.” In: Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Poster Presentations at the Combined Sections Meeting 2026. Anaheim, CA, February 2026. https://apta.confex.com/apta/csm2026/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/51584. Poster.
- Jacobs L, Joudeh S, Arhos EK, Renshaw S, Shannon K, Edwards P, Yu M, Wei L, Poulose BK, Di Stasi S, Chaudhari AMW. “Comparable Functional Outcomes and Physical Therapy Adherence between Men and Women after Ventral Hernia Repair.” In: Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Poster Presentations at the Combined Sections Meeting 2026. Anaheim, CA, February 2026. https://apta.confex.com/apta/csm2026/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/51768. Poster.
- Tom NA, Diallo M, Chaudhari AMW. “Biomechanical Effects of a Perturbation Tool on Drop Vertical Jumps.” In: Academy of Sports Physical Therapy Poster Presentations at the Combined Sections Meeting 2026. Anaheim, CA, February 2026. https://apta.confex.com/apta/csm2026/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/48578. Poster.
Major Awards
- 2024-2025 – President, American Society of Biomechanics
- 2023 – Friend of PT Award, American Council of Academic Physical Therapy Programs
- 2012 – Fellow, American College of Sports Medicine
- 2012 – Semifinalist, Innovation Award – Outstanding Product (under 250 employees), TechColumbus
- 1996 – Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society
- 1996 – Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society
Education
- PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
- MS, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
- Dual BS, Biological Sciences & Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
My Links
Clinical, Functional and Performance Biomechanics Research Lab