Profile
Dr. Boeyer is a pediatric skeletal biologist who focuses on better understanding variation in the timing and tempo of skeletal growth and development through the lens of various pediatric skeletal disorders (e.g., scoliosis, leg length inequality, etc.). She has extensive experience in the assessment of human skeletal growth and development as well as the longitudinal modeling of individualized data. Dr. Boeyer was awarded a Doctoral Fellowship (F31) from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development and, with this funding, identified a patterned ‘spurt’ in skeletal maturation, similar to adolescent growth spurt in height that accounts for much of the variation observed in the timing and tempo of skeletal development. Now, she is focusing her research endeavors on developing a clinically applicable assessment method that would allow clinicians to accurately predict the future growth and development of children receiving growth modulation treatments, such as Vertebral Body Tethering.
Academic Information
Research Interests
- Pediatric Spine Deformity
- Skeletal Growth and Development
- Statistical Methods for Individualized Longitudinal Modeling
Education & Training
Degrees
2020 – 2022: Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, University of Missouri – Columbia, MO
2015 – 2020: Doctor of Philosophy, University of Missouri – Columbia, MO
2013 – 2015: Master of Science, Mercyhurst University – Erie, PA
2010 – 2013: Bachelor of Science, University of Western Carolina University – Cullowhee, NC
Awards & Honors
- 2013 – Outstanding Dean Scholar Award
- 2018 – Thompson Laboratory for Regenerative Orthopaedics Excellence in Research Graduate Award
- 2018 – Outstanding Graduate Student in Research Award
- 2018 – American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Young Investigator Travel Award
- 2019 – John D. Bies International Travel Scholarship
- 2019 – American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Young Investigator Travel Award
- 2019 – Gamma Alpha Gamma Dissertation Year Fellowship
- 2022 – Littlejohn Legacy Research Award
Publications
- Hoernschemeyer, D., and Boeyer, M.
As Vertebral Body Tethering Impacts Missouri, New Technology Grows in the Right Direction.
Missouri Medicine – Special Issue. 2022;119:125-128. - McDonald TC, Shah SA, Hargiss JB, Varghese J, Boeyer ME, Pompliano M, Neal K, Lonner BS, Larson AN, Yaszay B, Newton PO, Hoernschemeyer DG;
Harms Nonfusion Study Group. When successful, anterior vertebral body tethering (VBT) induces differential segmental growth of vertebrae: an in vivo study of 51 patients and 764 vertebrae.
Spine Deform. 2022 Jul;10(4):791-797. doi: 10.1007/s43390-022-00471-2. Epub 2022 Jan 22. PMID: 35064912. - Boeyer ME, Middleton KM, Duren DL, Leary EV.
Estimating peak height velocity in individuals: a comparison of statistical methods.
Ann Hum Biol. 2020 Aug;47(5):434-445. doi: 10.1080/03014460.2020.1763458. Epub 2020 Jun 16. PMID: 32543236; PMCID: PMC7590904. - Hoernschemeyer DG, Boeyer ME, Tweedy NM, Worley JR, Crim JR.
A preliminary assessment of intervertebral disc health and pathoanatomy changes observed two years following anterior vertebral body tethering.
Eur Spine J. 2021 Dec;30(12):3442-3449. doi: 10.1007/s00586-021-06972-4. Epub 2021 Sep 7. PMID: 34494139. - Munger AM, Yu KE, Li DT, Furdock RJ, Boeyer ME, Duren DL, Weber DR, Cooperman DR.
The More the Merrier: Integrating Multiple Models of Skeletal Maturity Improves the Accuracy of Growth Prediction.
J Pediatr Orthop. 2021 Aug;41(7):e580-e584. doi: 10.1097/bpo.0000000000001847. PMID: 35087259; PMCID: PMC8788880. - Hoernschemeyer DG, Boeyer ME, Robertson ME, Loftis CM, Worley JR, Tweedy NM, Gupta SU, Duren DL, Holzhauser CM, Ramachandran VM.
Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering for Adolescent Scoliosis with Growth Remaining: A Retrospective Review of 2 to 5-Year Postoperative Results.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2020 Jul 1;102(13):1169-1176. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.19.00980. PMID: 32618924. - Boeyer ME, Leary EV, Sherwood RJ, Duren DL.
Evidence of the non-linear nature of skeletal maturation.
Arch Dis Child. 2020 Jul;105(7):631-638. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2019-317652. Epub 2020 Jan 23. PMID: 31974297; PMCID: PMC7592265. - Boeyer ME, Middleton KM, Duren DL, Leary EV.
Estimating peak height velocity in individuals: a response to Cole (2020).
Ann Hum Biol. 2020 Sep;47(6):585-586. doi: 10.1080/03014460.2020.1837954. Epub 2020 Nov 12. PMID: 33059487; PMCID: PMC7703697. - Boeyer ME, Sherwood RJ, Deroche CB, Duren DL.
Early Maturity as the New Normal: A Century-long Study of Bone Age.
Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2018 Nov;476(11):2112-2122. doi: 10.1097/CORR.0000000000000446. PMID: 30179948; PMCID: PMC6260000. - Boeyer ME, Ousley SD.
Skeletal assessment and secular changes in knee development: a radiographic approach.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2017 Feb;162(2):229-240. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.23110. Epub 2016 Oct 3. PMID: 27696364.