Orthopaedic Research Newsletter

December 2023

Welcome 

Happy Holidays From Orthopeadic Research.mp4

Thank you for your hard work and dedication throughout this year. We are so grateful for your efforts and for having each of you as part of our team. We wish you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season and hope you have a safe and relaxing time spent with those nearest and dearest to you. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

ASBMR Conference 

ASBMR 2023 Annual Meeting

The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

This year's ASBMR annual meeting was held at the Vancouver Convention Centre on October 13, 2023, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The ASMBR annual meeting is the world's largest and most diverse meeting focused on bone and mineral metabolism, attracting more than 2,000 attendees from more than 60 countries. This year's topic for the 2023 ASBMR Pre-meeting Symposium on Osteocytes in Bone Health and Disease and as Therapeutic Target Cells, reviewed advances in basic, translational and clinical research on the role of osteocytes in biology and pathophysiology of bone and how to target osteocytes with therapeutics.  The annual meeting hosted nearly 100 speaker sessions and 1,000 poster presentations. Our department presented 20 poster presentations and gave 3 oral research presentations. Save the date for next year's ASMBR 2024 annual meeting on September 27, 2024 to be held in Toronto ON Canada!

Congratulations!

Congratulations Conor Locke

ROBERT A. WINFIELD MHEALTHY CHAMPION AWARD 

Conor Locke was recognized as the Second Runner-Up for the 2023 Robert A. Winfield MHealthy Champion Award at the annual MHealthy Champion Retreat. Congratulations to Conor on the significant recognition of his great work! 

Conor's Recognition.MP4

Research Highlight

Adam Abraham, PhD

Research Investigator, Orthopaedic Surgery 

Dr. Adam Abraham has been with the department since March 2020.  His research has helped define the mechanical and structural properties of biological interfaces, examined mechanisms of metabolic dysfunction that disrupt musculoskeletal tissue function, and identified cellular targets to improve treatment of joint pathology. His research interests and active projects are below. 

Research Interest: 

Dr. Abraham's research interests are in soft-tissue pathologies, with a particular focus right now on tendinopathies. He is also interested in genetic determinants of tendon adaptation due to exercise throughout the lifespan. He has previously studied meniscus and intervertebral disc degeneration.

 

Active Research Projects: 

Jaimo Ahn, MD, PhD, Professor 

Fellow of the ACS, AAOS, AOA 

Harold W. and Helen L. Gehring Research Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Associate Chair for Education, Orthopaedic Surgery

Chief and Service Co-Director, Orthopaedic Trauma

Dr. Jaimo Ahn has been with the department since 2020. His research interests have been variegated and guided by a philosophy of curious inquiry, team building, learning more about what is little known but also pushing the boundaries. Some would say his journey lacks focus; it would be true. But that lack of focus has allowed him to be a mechanistic bench scientist, a clinical trialist, a start-up consultant, a NIH study section chair, a journal chief editor, and a mentor to learners from high school to tenured professors. Dr. Ahn's current interests range from a U01-supported clinical trial to study the mortality benefits of early surgery for hip fracture patients with demand cardiac ischemia, mechanistic investigations into the role of Activin A and special cell populations in fracture healing, understanding progenitor behaviors in human fracture patients, consortia based guideline development for use of AI in medicine, musculoskeletal care disparities in gender diverse patient populations, psychomotor effects of stress on clinical performance and systematic quantification of soft tissue status in fracture patients...and many more. He always welcomes discussion with colleagues, novices, and experts. 

Welcome New Orthopaedic Research Member!

Matt Walker, MAT, AT, ATC 

Clinical Research Coordinator

Matt Walker is the new Clinical Research Coordinator at MedSport. Prior to this role, he served as an athletic trainer within collegiate athletics for the past 10 years. He is very thankful for the opportunity to come to Michigan and looks forward to learning and getting to know everyone. He appreciates everyone who has met him already and has been so kind and helpful in his first week here! Go Blue!


Orthopaedic Research Holiday Celebrations

The orthopaedic research community gathered with laughs and cheer on December 12 in BSRB, followed by a staff's waffle breakfast on December 15.

Click here for the recipes: Holiday Recipes 

Italian Role

Brined and Roasted Turkey

Grandma's Apple Kuchen

Fudgy Peppermint Brownies

Baby Announcement!

Congratulations to Parents

Tristian and Basma Maerz! 

Welcome Baby: Felix Maerz 

Born: 10/6/2023

Congratulations to Grandparents

Carol and Dave Whitinger!

Welcome Baby: Ezra Francis Whitinger

Born: 10/30/2023 

Recent Publications

Upcoming Funding Opportunities and Deadlines


Do Good December

This month's theme is "Do Good December" which is especially meaningful during this time of year.  I challenge you to do good this December. One could give something away that you no longer need, donate to a local food bank, volunteer in your local community, or simply call a distant relative to say hello and have a chat.  I encourage you to do good by completing at least 2 of these actions this December. 

“Kindness is doing what you can, where you are, with what you have”. -Raktivist.  

Administrative Team

Melissa Li

Research Manager

for research operations

Kaileigh Stuchlik

Research Admin Manager

for research administration

Andrea Rusnak

Clinical Research Project Manager 

for clinical research

Sarah Boston

Admin Assistant Specialist 

for admin support

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