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Alberta Osteoarthritis Team Bone and joint health conditions are leading global causes of morbidity and disability, costing billions in healthcare expenditure. Recent findings suggest that 40% of people over 70 years of age suffer from Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, of whom, 25% are unable to perform major daily life activities.   Currently, there is no simple "cure" for OA and there are no known treatments which can predictably slow its progression.
Public Event   “Oh, my aching joints … the Future of Osteoarthritis Research”
The first ever OA Team Symposium was held at the Rosza Centre (University of Calgary) on October 26th
Creating Bone and Joint Health from Bedside to the Bench and Back Again Our team made the strategic decision to implement a '4-pillar' project plan with an integrated approach to discovering better diagnostics and therapeutics for patients while creating common platforms that will inform and prioritize the various mechanisms of this disease and ultimately define the relative risks of disease progression in individuals.

Newsworthy

Dr. DERRICK RANCOURT interviewed by CBC on the topic of Stem cell therapy. Listen to the interview.

 

Dr. REED FERBER and the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary have recently announced new collaborations with the UNIVERSITY of OXFORD, AUT University in Auckland, and OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. For more details go to www.runninginjuryclinic.com

and the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary have recently announced
new collaborations with the UNIVERSITY of OXFORD, AUT University in Auckland, and
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.and the Running Injury Clinic at the University of Calgary have recently announcednew collaborations with the UNIVERSITY of OXFORD, AUT University in Auckland, andOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.

Drs. WALTER HERZOG and BENNO NIGG were in Zurich Switzerland this June, with a former student. Dr Herzog provided the keynote lecture “50 years of biomechanics—travelling=through time”

Recent Publications of Interest

Alfred R, Taiani J, Krawetz R, Yamashita A, Rancourt DE, & Kallos MS (2011) Large-scale production of murine embryonic stem cellderived osteoblasts and chondrocytes on microcarriers in serum-free media. Biomaterials, 32(26), 6006-6016. Epub ahead of print.

The Myths of Osteoarthritis Debunked 

(Dr. Cy Frank interviewed by MobilizeCanada)

Perhaps no other disease has as many myths and misconceptions surrounding it than does arthritis. Debunking them will go a long way in improving the health of Canadians, says Dr. Cy Frank, an orthopaedic surgeon and professor in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary.

The most popular myth is that osteoarthritis (OA), commonly known as degenerative arthritis, is a normal part of the aging process. “It doesn’t have to be a part of aging. Absolutely not.” says Dr. Frank. “It’s potentially a preventable disease and people should be doing everything in their power to avoid it if they can.” Read more about it here.

You can also find an interview with Dr. Frank on the same topic here.

ABJHI Team Wins Top Achievement in Health Research Award

A team from Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute shares the spot for highest-ranking winner of the 2009-2010 competition for the Top Achievements in Health Research (awarded in 2011). The team won for its essay describing the positive and lasting changes in health care that have taken root in Alberta and elsewhere as a result of Alberta Hip and Knee Replacement Pilot Project.

The winning essays are published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

Authors of ABJHI’s winning essay are CY FRANK, Executive Director, DEBORAH MARSHALL, Director of Health Technology Assessment and Research, Peter Faris, Director of Analysis, and Christopher Smith, Project Director and Chief of Information Technology. (credit Len Cocolicchio, ABJHI)

Feature :: The Arthritis Society

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Our team members DR. MARSHALL and DR. HART were featured in the Arthritis Society Newsletter that was published for the Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA) Annual Meeting in July 2011. To read the articles go to the following link and click on Canada-wide.

Travel Award winners

Congratulations to the trainees who received TRAVEL AWARDS from the June competition:
ZIAD ABUSARA (PDF, Herzog) ANDREW SAWATSKY (MSc, Herzog)
MIKE POHL (PDF, Ferber) GEOFF BUCKLEY-HERD (MSc, Hart)
SONIA VANDERBY (PDF, Marshall)

Congratulations to the trainees who received TRAVEL AWARDS from the January competition:

  • ETIENNE O’BRIEN
  • KELSEY COLLINS

Team Reporting

For access to the Osteoarthritis Team reporting template please go to:

www.osteoarthritis-research.com

And welcome to two new team members, Dr. ANDREA CLARK (left)
and Dr. CHERYL BARNABE (right)
  • And welcome to two new team members, Dr. ANDREA CLARK and Dr. CHERYL BARNABE
  • To POH LEE ( MSc trainee, Krawetz/Rancourt) who successfully defended his thesis titled “Developing a novel biomimetic bioreactor for engineering bone grafts with murine embryonic stem cells” on February 24th.
  • To SARAH RICHMOND (PhD trainee, Emery) who successfully defended her dissertation titled “Sport injury and obesity prevention in junior high school students” on March 2nd.
  • To JILL BEVERIDGE (PhD trainee, Shrive/Frank) who successfully defended her dissertation titled “Surface interactions and cartilage damage in two ovine models of stifle injury” on March 28th.
  • To MARV FRITZLER, one of the recipients of the 2011 CIHR-CMAJ Top Achievements in Health Research Awards for identifying novel autoantigens that resulted in new diagnostic testing and biomarkers for autoimmune diseases.
  • To BRYAN HEARD (PhD trainee, Frank/Shrive) who was just awarded a QEII Scholarship (May 2012 to April 2013)
  • To TOM NOSEWORTHY who was recently appointed Associate Chief Medical Officer, Strategic Clinical Networks and Clinical Care Pathways, Alberta Health Services.
  • To TANNIN SCHMIDT on his company’s recent merger with another small virtual startup that has issued patents for use of Lubricin in the knee.
    • And welcome to new trainees:
  • SHARI-LYNN MACDONALD (PT/MSc, Ferber)
  • GULSHAN SHARMA (PDF, Ronsky)
  • GREG KUNTZE (PDF, Ronsky)
  • YANG YANG (PDF, Doschak/ Maksymoych)
  • JOYCE MAK (MSc, Rancourt/Krawetz)
Team OA journal club held its inaugural session in January with a bit of a slow start. Jim Wilson (PDF, Nigg) led a discussion of the selected article "Osmolarity effects on bovine articular chondrocytes during three-dimensional culture in alginate beads" (Xu et al, 2009) to 5 of his fellow trainees.
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