Dr. Michael Boninger is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. He has joint appointments in the Departments of Bioengineering, Rehabilitation Science and Technology, and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute as well as the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine. He is also the Associate Dean for Sustainability in the School of Medicine and responsible for running the school’s Office of Sustainability in Medicine. Finally, he is the Chief Medical Sustainability Officer for UPMC. In these sustainability roles, Dr. Boninger is working to reduce the carbon footprint of UPMC and the School of Medicine and increase education and engagement in climate health.

Dr. Boninger earned a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering and his medical degree at The Ohio State University. He completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan, where he became the chief resident. He came to the University of Pittsburgh when he won a postdoctoral fellowship in engineering and rehabilitation technology in 1994.

Dr. Boninger has an extensive publication record of well over 300 peer-reviewed papers and has receive substantial funding from numerous agencies including the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.  His central research focus is on enabling increased function and participation for individuals with disabilities through development and application of assistive, rehabilitative, and regenerative technologies.

Dr. Boninger also has extensive experience and publications related to training researchers and served as Associate Dean for Medical Student Research in the School of Medicine for a number of years. Dr. Boninger’s students have won over 50 national awards. Dr. Boninger holds 4 United States patents and has received numerous honors, including being inducted into the National Academy of Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine) of the National Academy of Science.

View a list of Dr. Boninger’s publications here.