Orthopedic Surgery News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS

Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University has achieved a new position of distinction in orthopaedics--it has been ranked second in the United States and first in Pennsylvania for orthopaedic research funding in 2005 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The rankings are released by the NIH after the end of each fiscal year.

Upon learning of the achievement, Thomas J. Nasca, M.D., MACP, senior vice president, Academic Affairs, Thomas Jefferson University, and dean of Jefferson Medical College said, “We are honored and very thankful to the NIH for this recognition.  We believe our funding is testament to the longstanding commitment of the Medical College and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery to landmark biomedical research that will translate into leading-edge clinical practice.  Under the previous leadership of Dr. Richard Rothman, and now under the direction of Dr. Todd Albert, excellence has been nurtured and supported.”

The ongoing collaboration between Jefferson’s distinguished international team of scientists and the exceptional clinicians of the Rothman Institute at Jefferson results in highly and rapidly translational investigations.  Supervised by Todd J. Albert, M.D., the James Edwards professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and Maurizio Pacifici, Ph.D., director, and Irving M. Shapiro, Ph.D., B.D.S., associate director of Orthopaedic Research, and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Program at Thomas Jefferson University, current areas of funded research activity include:

• Development of technology for infection-free orthopaedic implants;
• Transplantation of adult stem cells to restore degenerate intervertebral discs;
• Regulation of skeletal growth and repair by environmental factors;
• Causes of developmental skeletal anomalies and prevention of excessive bone deposition;
• Maintenance of joint function and treatment of osteoarthritis.

“The findings from these NIH-funded investigations, along with others on which we are working, will eventually revolutionize orthopaedic patient care,” said Dr. Albert, who is also a spine specialist, and president of the Rothman Institute at Jefferson.  “For instance, one of the primary causes of low back pain is degenerative disc disease.  If we can eventually inject a patient’s own healthy cells into their damaged disc to regenerate it, we can cure not just our own patients, but millions of individuals afflicted with this chronic condition.”

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, back pain is the second leading cause of absenteeism from work, after the common cold, and the second most common medical complaint in the U.S. (New England Journal of Medicine). 

Dr. Shapiro, concurred, “Either in the short or long term, all of our investigations hold promise of profoundly influencing clinical care.  Once our team determines how bones and joints are formed, then we may be able to learn why a particular skeletal condition develops.  This knowledge will undoubtedly lead to new understandings of disease and hopefully will result in innovative treatments and therapies.”

“Yet whether you talk to one of our molecular geneticists studying the role of genetics in skeletal disease, or one of the many clinical specialists of the Rothman Institute at Jefferson, our collective top priority is excellence in patient care,” added Dr. Albert.  “The department is pleased that this philosophy and method of practice has been recognized and so strongly supported by such an organization as the National Institutes
of Health.”