Pittsburgh, December 22, 2025 — The project “inFiniteSpine: Preoperative Finite Element Spine Surgery Planning Tool” has been selected as one of 19 Phase 1 awardees for the University of Pittsburgh Un-Challenge (PUnCh), an initiative funding unconventional research to solve tough health problems. The project received a $25,000 Phase 1 award.
The project is led by principal investigators Dr. Nitin Agarwal and Samuel Wakelin, with team members Ben Carnovale and Armani Manov also contributing to this innovative research effort.
About PUnCh
Traditional funding models often reward incremental progress over big leaps. PUnCh exists to change that. Whether it’s a radical new approach to a long-standing problem, an unexpected collaboration, or a research concept that challenges conventional thinking, PUnCh is here to fund what others won’t.
The University of Pittsburgh Un-Challenge seeks to support bold, unconventional ideas that have the potential to make transformative impacts in healthcare and beyond. By providing funding for projects that might not fit traditional research paradigms, PUnCh enables researchers to pursue innovative solutions to complex health challenges.
The inFiniteSpine Project
The inFiniteSpine project aims to develop a preoperative finite element spine surgery planning tool that will help surgeons better predict and plan complex spinal procedures. This innovative approach leverages computational modeling to create personalized surgical plans, potentially improving patient outcomes and reducing surgical complications.
The $25,000 Phase 1 award will support the initial development and validation of this groundbreaking tool, bringing together expertise from neurosurgery, emergency medicine, and computational modeling to advance the field of spine surgery planning.
