Organizers:
M. Farooq Rai, PhD
ORS Ambassador – Midwest
Audrey McAlinden, PhD
ORS Membership Committee Chair
Workshop Highlights
This half-day symposium was organized by ORS Ambassador – Midwest, M. Farooq Rai, PhD and ORS Membership Committee Chair, Audrey McAlinden, PhD. The symposium showcased the region’s rich and diverse musculoskeletal-oriented research as well as local industrial and bio-entrepreneurial activities. The Workshop opened with welcoming remarks from Dr. Regis O’Keefe, Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University and ORS Past-President (2009). Dr. Rai then took the stage to provide information on the ORS Ambassadors Program. This was followed by a comprehensive presentation by Dr. McAlinden on the history of ORS and the benefits of ORS membership. She also shared her own personal experiences with the Society as well testimonials from other members to highlight how the ORS has had a positive impact on their careers. Symposium keynote speaker, Dr. Farshid Guilak, ORS Past-President (2016) followed with an inspiring career development talk, highlighting aspects of his own career path and emphasizing how the scientific environment you choose and create nurtures your success. The opening session of talks ended with a presentation from Blake Marggraff and Avik Som, co-founders of EPharmix, a St Louis-based start-up company aimed at improving patient medical compliance and care through automated text messaging.
Symposium attendees then had the opportunity to participate in a thought-provoking Panel Discussion session. Panelists (with expertise in academic research, clinical practice, and entrepreneurial or start-up company ventures) answered a wide-array of questions from balancing the demands of being a clinician-scientist to choosing a post-doctoral position to jumpstart an independent research career, and how to foster healthy scientific mentor-mentee relationships. A lively poster session then took place followed by six scientific talks, which were selected based on highest-rated abstracts. The event concluded with the announcement of three Best Poster Award winners followed by a networking social event. Approximately 110 people attended the symposium. The majority of participants were from the “Show Me State” area (Washington University, St. Louis University and the University of Missouri) but there was also significant representation from Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Utah, and New York.
The organizers would like to acknowledge and thank everybody who contributed towards making this symposium a major success.
Summary provided by:
Evan G. Buettmann, ORS Social Media Liaison, Washington University School of Medicine
Congratulations Poster Winners !
Presenting Author: Kelly A. Kimmerling
Enrichment of Endogenous ω-3 Fatty Acids in Fat-1 Transgenic Mice Attenuates Post-traumatic Arthritis
Co-Authors: Chia-Lung Wu, Janet L. Huebner, Dianne Little, Virginia B. Kraus, Jing X. Kang, Farshid Guilak
Presenting Author: Nobuaki Chinzei
Evidence for Genetic Contribution to Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis in Mice
Co-Authors: Muhammad Farooq Rai, Shingo Hashimoto, Eric J. Schmidt, Ken Takebe, James M. Cheverud, Linda J. Sandell
Presenting Author: B. Sonny Bal
Osteoinductive Properties of Silicon Nitride, Alumina, and Titanium
Co-Authors: Ryan M. Bock, Alfredo Rondinella, Elia Marin, Wenliang Zhu, Tetsuya Adachi, Bryan J. McEntire, Giuseppe Pezzotti
Thank you to the following supporters:
