2019 Scientific Workshops

Organized by ORS Preclinical Models Section and ORS International Section of Fracture Repair (ISFR)
Organizers: Michael Lehmicke, PhD and Melanie Haffner-Luntzer, PhD

A variety of comorbidities and risk factors have been postulated to contribute to the development of bone fracture-healing complications. There is evidence that postmenopausal osteoporosis, concomitant tissue injury and ischemic conditions may strongly interfere with bone regeneration, whereas molecular mechanisms are still unclear. To study these, appropriate animal models are needed. The purpose of this workshop is to introduce scientists to large and small animal models of those comorbidities and to address how these conditions may interfere with bone healing.

Kurt Hankenson, DVM, PhD, University of Michigan
Altering Vascularization During Bone Healing

Anita Ignatius, DVM, Ulm University
Large and Small Animal Models of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis During Bone Healing

Roman Pfeifer, MD University of Zurich
Polytrauma Models

Organized by the ORS Women’s Leadership Forum
Organizers: Sophie Verrier, PhD and Deana Mercer, MD

The regeneration of tissue loss after trauma, cancer, degeneration or congenital defect constitutes a major clinical challenge and touches millions of people. 3D printing is an emerging technology, which together with the possibility to print living cells (bioprinting, biofabrication), holds great promise for development of complex tissues with precise shape and controlled cellular contents. This technology is a key player in future strategies for location- and patient-specific tissue regeneration. This workshop will at first give an insight into the potentials of 3D printing and biofabrication technology for orthopaedic applications. We will further outline the current clinical use of this technology for bone and cartilage repair. Finally, we will explore the latest “hybrid approaches” combining 3D printing with other technologies for the development of implants for complex tissue interfaces.

Mia Woodruf, PhD, Queensland University of Technology
Innovations in 3D Printing for Orthopaedics

Lawrence Bonassar, PhD, Cornell University
Advances of 3D Printing for Cartilage and Intervertebral Disc Repair

Christina Salas, PhD, University of New Mexico
3D Printing with Near-Field Electrospinning Composite Scaffolds of the Bone-Ligament Interface

Organizers: Xu Cao, PhD and Tamara Alliston, PhD

By focusing on TGF-beta signaling, this workshop will discuss cellular, molecular, and mechanobiologic mechanisms of crosstalk between cartilage and subchondral bone. In addition, workshop participants will learn how these mechanisms are being targeted therapeutically, including in ongoing clinical trials, to prevent or treat osteoarthritis.

Tamara Alliston, PhD, University of California San Francisco
Cellular Mechanisms of TGFᵦ Action at the Bone / Cartilage Interface

Xu Cao, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Subchondral Bone Structure Regulates TGFᵦ Activation in Articular Cartilage for its Homeostasis

Farsh Guilak, PhD, Washington University
TGF-beta Mechanoregulation as a Therapeutic Target for Joint Disease

Organizers: Ronald Kwon, PhD and Ryan Gray, PhD

By virtue of their unique experimental attributes, zebrafish and other laboratory fish models hold unique potential to open ‎powerful avenues for musculoskeletal research that are challenging in other vertebrate systems. While zebrafish have been established as powerful model in diverse areas, their use for orthopaedic-related research has only begun to be established. The purpose of this workshop is to highlight musculoskeletal research in zebrafish and discuss the benefits and limitations of this emerging animal model.

Jenna Galloway, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Tendon Regenerative Biology: New Approaches using the Zebrafish

Björn Busse, PhD, University Medical Center Hamburg
Bone Quality Analysis in Zebrafish: Structural, Compositional and Mechanical Properties

Ryan Gray, PhD, University of Texas at Austin
Discovering the Mediators of Spine Stability using the Zebrafish Model System

Matthew Harris, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital
Defining and Refining the Skeleton: The Power of Systematic Genetic Analyses in Small Fishes

Organized by the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (I-CORS)
Organizers: Gun-Il Im, MD, PhD and Ted Miclau, MD

Stem-cell based cartilage regeneration has been extensively investigated with a view to clinical application because stem cells have the advantages of multilineage differentiation and proliferation capability. However, inadequate differentiation and hypertrophy were main obstacles in the successful chondrogenesis from adult stem cells. Together with incomplete knowledge on developmental process and stem cell biology, promising in vitro data did not often translate into concrete in vivo results. Current understanding suggests that multi-disciplinary approach including biologic, genetic and mechanical stimulations may be needed for stem-cell based cartilage regeneration. In this work shop, updates in multi-disciplinary approaches for stem-cell based cartilage regeneration including cellular basis of chondrogenesis, gene-enhanced cartilage regeneration, physical modulation to divert stem cells to chondrogenic cell fate will be detailed by experts in those fields.

Brian Johnstone, PhD, Oregon Health and Science University
Cellular Basis of Chondrogenesis

Martin Stoddart, PhD, AO Research Institute
Physical Modulation to Divert Stem Cells to Chondrogenic Cell Fate

Gun-Il Im, MD, PhD, Dongguk University
Gene-Enhanced Cartilage Regeneration

Organized by ORS and Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA)
Organizer: Emil Schemitsch, MD

A primary goal of the workshop will be to achieve consensus opinions on many current issues and controversies regarding the treatment of infected fractures. There are a host of technologies on the horizon or nearing clinical application that show great promise for the future of diagnosing and treating orthopaedic trauma infections.

David Hak, MD, Denver Health
The Infected Fracture: Can We Agree on Standard Definitions?

Aaron Johnson, MD, University of Maryland
Diagnosing Infection in Orthopaedic Trauma: We Have a Problem!

Joseph Wenke, PhD, US Army Institute of Surgical Research
Infection Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention Technologies on the Horizon

Aaron Nauth, MD, Saint Michael’s Hospital
Hardware Considerations: When and How to Remove or Revise the Fixation!

Peter Giannoudis, MD, University of Leeds
Acute and Chronic Infection: Is There a Gold Standard for Management of the Wound and Bone Defect?

Organized by the ORS Women’s Leadership Forum
Organizer: Jennifer Woodell-May, PhD

Current understanding of osteoarthritis is evolving from a purely mechanical disease with an end result of wearing down of cartilage to include a complex biochemical response that involves inflammation and the immune system. The model of osteoarthritis as a chronic wound elucidates the role inflammation plays and also the body’s attempts to repair an ongoing “wound.” This analysis may bring new understanding of the disease and also identify new therapeutic targets. This workshop will explore macrophages and other immune cells in the synovium and the role they play in both stimulating and potentially modulating the inflammatory response in osteoarthritis.

Jennifer Elisseeff, PhD, Johns Hopkins University
The Role of the Adaptive Immune System in Regeneration

Steven Olson, MD, Duke University
Cells and Cytokines Driving Arthritis Progression Following Injury

Christopher Little, BVMS, PhD, Kolling Institute, University of Sydney
Local Versus Systemic Cellular Response in Injury and Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis

Organizer: Spencer Szczesny, PhD

Ex vivo tissue explant and organ culture models provide numerous advantages over other in vitro and in vivo approaches used to study musculoskeletal disease. In contrast to seeding cells on 2D substrates or in 3D biomaterials, ex vivo explant models maintain cells in their native tissue microenvironment, which ensures that the cells are presented with the mechanical stimuli and biological signaling that occurs in situ due to native cell-cell and cell-matrix communication. In contrast to in vivo studies, explant models offer a reductionist approach where the biological response to mechanical loading and cytokines can be carefully measured non-destructively over time in isolation from exogenous systemic factors. The purpose of this workshop is to discuss recent advances in tissue explant models of tendon, bone, and the intervertebral disc. The scientific opportunities available with current culture and imaging techniques will be presented along with the limitations of explant culture.

Jess Snedeker, PhD, ETH Zurich
In Vitro Models for Elucidating the Mechanical Regulation of Tendon Physiology and Disease

X. Edward Guo, PhD, Columbia University
Ex Vivo Loadable Bone Models

Simon Tang, PhD, Washington University
Utilizing In Vitro Organ Culture for Mechanistic Studies of the Intervertebral Disc

Organizer: Deborah Mason, PhD

Osteoarthritis is often diagnosed after structural joint damage, and treatments to prevent disease progression or restore joint structures remain elusive. A pressing need is to address OA following joint injury. Such posttraumatic OA (PTOA), accounts for 12% of OA sufferers, likely higher at younger age. Surgical procedures after acute injuries restore mobility and function but do not prevent PTOA. This opens a window for adjunct treatments at the time of injury, which could ultimately prevent the development of PTOA. To achieve this aim, therapeutic drug candidates need to be identified and successfully translated into clinical trials. This workshop will report the first international consensus on the conduct of interventional studies following acute knee joint trauma, review potential targets identified from preclinical models and discuss early lessons from small interventional trials. Progress and challenges to the successful study and treatment of PTOA will be discussed.

Fiona Watt, PhD, Kennedy Institute
Why is the Design of Interventional Trials Following Acute Knee Injury Important for Posttraumatic OA?

Deborah Mason, PhD, Cardiff University
Therapeutic Targets in PTOA: Translation from Laboratory to Clinic

Christian Lattermann, MD, Harvard Medical School
Interventional Trials in the ACL Injury Model and How they Translate to the Clinical Situation?

Organizer: Carl Imhauser, PhD

Reproducibility of research findings is recognized as a cornerstone for scientific advancement. As modeling and simulation (M&S) achieves widespread adoption, reproducibility is also becoming a pressing area of interest across the academic, industry, and regulatory spaces. In orthopaedic applications such as those of computational knee biomechanics, the subjective decisions of the model developer, the so-called ‘art’ of M&S, may be a critical barrier to achieve reproducibility and, ultimately, to establish confidence for widespread adoption of these powerful tools. The purpose of this workshop is to discuss the efforts of stakeholders from academics, industry, and regulatory agencies to address the topic of reproducibility in M&S utilizing knee modeling as an example case including presentation of a multi-institutional, open, effort, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that assesses model reproducibility in the computational knee biomechanics community.

Carl Imhauser, PhD, Hospital for Special Surgery
Reproducibility in Modeling and Simulation of the Knee: An Academic Perspective

Andrew Baumann, PhD, FDA
Reproducibility in Modeling and Simulation of the Knee: A Regulatory Perspective

Cheryl Liu, PhD, Stryker
Reproducibility in Modeling and Simulation of the Knee: An Industry Perspective

Organized by the ORS Women’s Leadership Forum
Organizer: Alice Huang, PhD

In musculoskeletal tissues, much of the focus has been on differentiation of progenitor/stem cells toward defined lineages. Although it was long thought that terminally differentiated cells rarely undergo transdifferentiation, recent evidence suggests that transdifferentiation may be a key feature in normal biological processes. This workshop will provide perspectives from development and trauma-induced pathology, followed by insights on fate restriction in regeneration. In addition, molecular tools used to identify cell origin, and dissection of gene regulatory networks that govern cell fate transitions will be covered. The goal is to facilitate discussion on the nature of cell differentiation and plasticity, and requirements for cell fate transitions. Inducing regeneration remains a major clinical challenge; understanding the mechanisms that lead differentiated cells to adopt alternative fates will provide a useful therapeutic path to improve healing or avert pathology.

Kathryn Cheah, PhD, University of Hong Kong
Skeletal Lineage Plasticity in Development and Disease

Benjamin Levi, MD, University of Michigan
Cell Plasticity in Musculoskeletal Trauma and Heterotopic Ossification

Jessica Lehoczky, PhD, Brigham and Womens Hospital
Lineage Restriction During Mouse Digit Tip Regeneration

Organizers: Chris Hernandez, PhD and Michael Zuscik, PhD

The human body hosts a complex community of microbes including bacteria and archaea that together make up the human microbiome. Recent studies have linked the constituents of the microbiome to chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease and Alzheimer’s, suggesting that the microbiome can influence diseases processes throughout the body. In this workshop we address the potential effects of the microbiome on musculoskeletal disease. This workshop is intended for orthopaedic researchers and clinicians with little background in the microbiome and provides an introduction to the field and methodologies used to study the microbiome as well as an overview of recent findings linking the microbial populations in the body to diseases of the bones and joints and complications following orthopaedic surgery.

Christopher Hernandez, PhD, Cornell University
What is the Microbiome and How is it Relevant to Musculoskeletal Disease?

Julia Charles, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School
Osteomicrobiology: Overview of an Emerging Field

Michael Zuscik, PhD, University of Colorado Denver
Role of the Dysbiotic Gut Microbiome in Arthritis: Implications for Development of Novel DMOADS