Eligibility

  • NIRA candidates must have completed a residency (i.e., MD, DVM, or equivalent) or a PhD at the time of submission of their abstract to qualify, and must not have more than the equivalent of 5 years of active research experience (i.e., approved institutional leaves of absence excluded) beyond completion of their residency or PhD.
  • Candidates must be the first-listed and presenting author on the abstract submitted for the annual meeting, as well as corresponding author and cannot be a previous award winner.
  • The work must clearly be that of the applicant and not that of any co-author.
  • NIRA finalists are selected based on the qualifying questions answered during the online abstract submission.
  • Candidates must be a member of the ORS in good standing*.

*Note: If you are not a member of the ORS, visit our membership section of the website for an application.

Award Selection

NIRA finalists are chosen to present at the Annual Meeting – an oral presentation in the NIRA Presentations Session and a poster that will be up all four days of the meeting.  NIRA Finalists must be present at their posters during the Poster Sessions to maintain eligibility. Alternates cannot present on their behalf. Finalists will be interviewed by the NIRA committee.

Award recipients will be selected upon the quality and presentation of material in the abstract during the podium presentation.

Awards are presented at the ORS Annual Meeting.

The Call for Submissions is Now Closed.

Rahul Alenchery
Paper #144
Unraveling The Role Of Mtor In Tendon Fibrosis: Implications For Targeted Therapies And Scar-free Healing

Evan Buettman
Paper #175
Dmp1 Lineage Connexin 43 Deficiency Attenuates Decreases In Skeletal Muscle Strength And Fracture Callus Mineralization During Hindlimb Unloading

Michael Duffy
Paper #145
Mapping Human Bone Marrow Cellular Heterogeneity By Single-cell Transcriptomic And Proteomics

Jade He
Paper #122
Knee Loading Patterns Differ By Symptom State 2 Years Post Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Irina Heggli
Paper #92
Low Back Pain Patients With Modic Type 1 Changes Exhibit Distinct Bacterial And Autoimmune Subtypes That Can Be Distinguished By Cytokines In The Blood

Alexander Knights
Paper #61
Wnt Signaling Underpins Fibro-adipogenic Dynamics Of Intra-articular Fat During Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis

Sihan Liu
Paper #58
The Role Of Wnt5a In T Cell Balance In Osteoarthritis

Luke Mattar
Paper #88
Predictors Of Patient Reported Outcomes And Tear Propagation Immediately Following Exercise Therapy For Individuals With Rotator Cuff Tears

Himanshu Meghwani
Paper #169
Ccl20/ccr6 Limits The Disease Severity In Staphylococcus Aureus Osteomyelitis By Increasing Th17 And Macrophage Recruitment At The Site Of Inflammation

Mitchell Wheatley
Paper #123
Distinct Pathomechanics Of Female Knees Compared To Males: A Population-based In-silico Analysis

2023

Benjamin Binder-Markey
Patrick Carry
Sade Clayton
Jenny Dorich
Kristine Fischenich
Nicole Gould
David Jordan
Jason Marvin
Sungmin Nam
Joseph Roberts
Joanna Sadowska
Brett Steineman
Vincentius Suhardi
Hannah Swahn
Catherine Yuh

2022

Richard Bell
Alireza  Borjali
Kevin Dibbern
Verena Fischer
Brecca  Gaffney
Wensen Jiang
Nidal Khatib
Minwook Kim
Mark Lemoine
Xi Lin
Ryan Locke
Kaveh Momenzadeh
Angela  Papalamprou
Qizhi Qin
Alex Reiter
Sanique South

2021

Michelle Delco
Jarred Kaiser
Yuya Kawarai
Annemarie Lang
Yiming Li
Steven Mell
Stephanie Moore-Lotridge
Yugo Morita
Christopher Mosher
Anne Nichols
Simona Radice
Yoshiyuki Senga
Joshua Stover
Jiajia Xu
Lutian Yao
Stefan Zbyn

2020

Maryam Afzali
Rebecca Chung
Kelsey Collins
Xin Duan
Fiona Freeman
Takayuki Fujii
Natalia Harasymowicz
Tom Hodgkinson
Anthony Khoury
Shinsuke Kihara
Max Michalski
Na Rae Park
Yuki Saito
Changli Zhang
Chenghao Zhang

2019 

Fei Fang
Benjamin Freedman
Arlyng Gonzalez Vazquez
Nguyen Huynh
Drew Lansdown
Zhaoyang Liu
Geoffrey Ng
Robert Nims
Deepanwita Pal
Feini Qu
Andreas Seitz
Brian Walczak
Li Xiao
Yasuhito Yahara
Junichi Yamada

2018

Pamela Cabahug-Zuckerman
Arielle G. Fischer
Melanie Haffner-Luntzer
Emerson Krock
Thomas Kurien
John T. Martin
Casey A. Myers
Yusuke Nakagawa
Koichi Okamura
Nicole D. Paris
Jay M. Patel
Suphannee Pongkitwitoon
Lauryn Samelko
Cuicui Wang
Chia-Lung Wu

2017

Daniel W. Youngstrom, NIRA Supported by Duke University Medical Center
Yinshi Ren, NIRA Supported by International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICMRS)
Edward D. Bonnevie, NIRA Supported by Washington University in St. Louis
Sarah E. Gullbrand, NIRA Supported by Hospital for Special Surgery
Bhranti S. Shah, NIRA Supported by University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
David N. Paglia, NIRA Supported by University of Minnesota Medical Center
Masahiro Ishikawa, NIRA Supported by Brown University
Yuchen Wang, NIRA Supported by Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Rosanne M. Raftery, NIRA Supported by University of Rochester Medical Center
Lijun Wang, NIRA Supported by University of California, San Francisco 

2016

Kevin Bell, PhD, NIRA Supported by Washington University
Jonathan M. Brunger, PhD, NIRA Supported by Brown University
Jang-Hwan Choi, NIRA Supported by University of Rochester Medical Center
Julianne Huegel, PhD, NIRA Supported by Hospital for Special Surgery
Tomohiro Kayama, MD, MBBS, Bsc(hons), NIRA Supported by Duke University Medical Center
Christopher O’Conor, PhD, NIRA Supported by University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Joo Han Oh, MD, PhD, NIRA Supported by University of California, San Francisco
Prism S Schneider, NIRA Supported by University of Minnesota Medical Center
Wei Tong, PhD, NIRA Supported by International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society
Susumu Wada, MD, NIRA Supported by University of Pennsylvania

2015

Tomohiro Fujiwara, NIRA Supported by Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons
Bing Yu, NIRA Supported by Brown University
Yohei Kawakami, MD, PhD, NIRA Supported by Duke Orthopaedics
Jason A. Horton, PhD, NIRA Supported by Hospital for Special Surgery
Whasil Lee, NIRA Supported by International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICORS)
Michael B. Geary, BA, NIRA Supported by University of California, San Francisco
Jason D. Gibson, PhD, NIRA Supported by University of Pennsylvania Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders
Kohei Nishitani, NIRA Supported by University of Pittsburgh
Andrea G. Schwartz, PhD, NIRA Supported by University of Rochester Medical Center
Tsung-Lin Tsai, NIRA Supported by University of Minnesota
Iain R. Murray, MD, NIRA Supported by Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine

2014
Kun Yang, PhD, $1,000 winner NIRA Supported by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons
Shankar Thiagarajah, NIRA Supported by PENN, Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders
Peter Grunert, MD, NIRA Supported by Duke University
Masato Yuasa, MD, NIRA Supported by University of Rochester Medical Center
Ciara M. Murphy, PhD, NIRA Supported by University of California, San Francisco and Orthopaedic Trauma Institute
Kensuke Kubota, NIRA Supported by Hospital for Special Surgery
Vincent P. Willard, PhD, NIRA Supported by the American Geriatrics Society
Julia Chen, PhD, NIRA Supported by University of Pittsburgh
Shan Li, NIRA Supported by International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society
Hongchuan Yu, NIRA Supported by University of Minnesota
Chia-Lung Wu, MS, NIRA Supported by Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine

2013
Yupeng Chen, $1,000
William Lack, MD – Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons/CORR (ABJS/CORR) – Clinical
Haruo Kanno, MD, PhD – Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons/CORR (ABJS/CORR) – Basic Science
Valeri Siclari, PhD – Sponsored by the International Chinese Hard Tissue Society (ICHTS)
Brya Matthews, PhD – Sponsored by the Hospital for Special Surgery
Marjolein Caron – Sponsored by the University of Rochester Medical Center
Megan Killian, PhD – Sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco
Nathaniel Dyment, PhD
Chang Lee, PhD – Sponsored by the American Geriatric Society (AGS)
Tetsuya Kuramoto

2012
Jie Shen,$1,000
Dennis Remst – Sponsored by: American Geriatrics Society (AGS)
Kenneth Urish
Sirish K Kondabolu
Meina Wang
Chathuraka T Jayasuriya – Award given in the name of the US Bone and Joint Initiative
Kei Imagawa, MD
Joerg H Holstein, MD – Sponsored by: Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF)
Diane Nam, MD
Xueqin Gao – Sponsored by: International Chinese Hard Tissue Society (ICHTS)

2011
Kristen Moffat, PhD – $1,000 Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Erik R Sampson, PhD – Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Clinical
Do Soung, PhD – Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Basic Science
Muhammad Farooq Rai, PhD – Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Oran Kennedy, PhD – Award given in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade (BJD)
Qing Yang, MD – Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Tomoyuki Nakasa- Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Shingo Hashimoto, MD, PhD – Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Naosuke Kamei, MD, PhD – Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Niamh C Nowlan, PhD -Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)

2010
Christopher Price, PhD – $1,000 Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Karen Troy – Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Clinical
Takeshi Minashima – Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Basic Science
Shigeru Miyaki, PhD – Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Hongbin Lu – Sponsored by the International Chinese Hard Tissue Society
Kenneth M Kozloff, PhD – Award given in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade (BJD)
Roger Cornwall, MD – Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Daniel Toben – Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
James D Wernle – Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)
Songlin Peng, MS – Sponsored by MTF (Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation)

2009
Choongsoo Shin,$1,000 winner
Young-Min Kwon, Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Clinical
Eve Donnelly, Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Basic Science
Xiaowei Sherry Liu, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Wei Hou, Sponsored by the International Chinese Hard Tissue Society
Riku Hayashi, Award given in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade (BJD)
Mona Dvir-Ginzberg
Samir Trehan
Takayuki Furumatsu
Akiro Higashikawa

2008
Takehiko Matsushita, MD, $1,000 winner, Sponsored by Wyeth
Yukio Akasaki, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Kazuya Kitamura, Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Clinical
Naoki Kondo, Sponsored by CORR/Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Basic Science
Fiona H. Zhou, PhD, Sponsored by the International Chinese Hard Tissue Society
Shin Miyatake, MD, Award given in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade (BJD)
Takao Setoguchi, Sponsored by Wyeth
Mei Zhu, MD, Sponsored by Wyeth
Shi-Lu Chia, Sponsored by Wyeth
Tetsuro Ohba, Sponsored by Wyeth

2007
Dean H Lang, $1,000 winner, Sponsored by Wyeth
Riku Sakimura, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Bing Wang, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Clinical
Kyung Ok Kim, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Basic Science
Chao Xie, Sponsored by the International Chinese Hard Tissue Society
Wei Zhu, Award given in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade
Yasumu Kijima, Sponsored by Wyeth
Mitra Lavasani, Sponsored by Wyeth
Yu Zhang, Sponsored by Wyeth
Eric M Darling, Sponsored by Wyeth

2006
Xue Yang, $1,000 winner, Sponsored by Amgen
Kei Miyamoto, MD, PhD, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Roberta Faccio, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Clinical
Yasuhiko Nishio, MD, PhD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Basic Science
Mo Chen, Sponsored by the International Chinese Hard Tissue Society
Laoise McNamara, Award given in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade
Philipp Schneider, Sponsored by Amgen
Luis Cardoso Landa, PhD, Sponsored by Amgen
Michael J Jaasma, PhD, Sponsored by Amgen
Jonathan B Fitzgerald, BS, Sponsored by Amgen

2005
Shaoxia Zhou, $1,000 winner
Kimihiko Sawakami, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS)
Xinping Zhang, PhD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Clinical
Wei Wang, PhD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (ABJS) – Basic Science
Run Shen, Award givien in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade (BJD)
Andrew Ho, MD
Tian-Fang Li, MD, PhD, MSc
Jinping Xu
Chuanju Liu, PhD
Celine Colnot, PhD

2004
Richard Schneider, $1,000 award winner
Thomas Pufe, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Julia S Kuliwaba, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Clinical
Bang H Hoang, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Basic Science
Janet E Tapper, Award given in the name of the Bone and Joint Decade
ChunBong B Ma, Sponsored by the International Chinese Hard Tissue Society
Oscar K Lee
Stuart J Warden
Delphine S Perie-Curnier
Chaoyang Chen

2003
Timothy M. Ritty, PhD, $1,000 award winner
James L. Cook, DVM, PhD, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Matthias Honl, MD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Clinical
Moonsoo Jin, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Basic Science
Bryan T. Kelly
Tadahiko Kubo
David L. Glaser, MD
David Hannallah, MD
Tomoya Matsunobu, MD
Takuji Matsumoto

2002
Fumihiko Nakatani MD, $1,000 award winner
Katsuaki Kanbe MD, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
J Mark Wilkinson, MB ChB, PhD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Clinical
Glen L Niebur, PhD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Basic Science
Lisa A Fortier, DVM
Matyas Czipri, MD
Alexander Robling, PhD
Leon Nesti, PhD MD
Fergal O’Brien
Gerard Schmidmaier, MD

2001
Kathleen T Rousche, PhD, $1,000 award winner
Kuzuo Yudoh, MD, PhD, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Sevan Hopyan, MD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Clinical
Toshiki Miura, MD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Basic Science
Yoshihiro Matsumoto, MS
Ulrich Noth, MD
Lei Wei, PhD
Christopher R Purple, PhD
Suzuyo Ohashi, PhD
Xudong Li, MD

2000
Yousef Abu-Amer, PhD, $1,000 award winner
Kathy Buhl, MS, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Markus Heller, MS, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons, Clinical
Michael A K Liebschner, PhD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons, Basic Science
Scott Meyer MD
Qiuqian Wu
Sean Nicklin
Henning Madry, MD
Lian P Xing, MD
Tasuku Mashiba

1999
Kazuhiro Tanaka MD, PHD, $1,000 award winner
Elizabeth T Hsiao, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Tung-Wu Lu, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Clinical
Edward Schwarz, PhD, Sponsored by the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons – Basic Science
John R Mosley
Norimasa Nakamura, MD
Peter L Mente, PhD
Xuechu Zhen
Hirotaka Haro, PhD
Fackson Mwale, PhD

1998
Scott A Yerby, PHD, Sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society
Randy Goomer, PhD
Qian Chen, PhD
Eleftherios P Paschalis, PhD
Weiyong Gu, PhD
Janey D Whalen
Thomas WF Mittlmeier, MD
Ichiro Sekiya, MD
Stephen E Gould, PhD

1997
Hiroshi Hatano
Yasuharu Nakashima MD
Yohichi Ezura MD
Shunichi Murakami, MD
Jill Ann Helms, PhD
Joyce H Keyak, PhD
Marina D’Angelo PhD
Anthony Hayes

1996
Lisa Durrant
James D Kang, MD
Partap S Khalsa
Thorsten Kirsch, PhD
Brian D Mariani
Kenneth J Noonan, MD
Matthew J Silva, PhD
Jack H Wang

1995
Patrick W Lawlor
Howard A. Chansky, MD
George A Dahir, MD
Mark S Smeltzer, PhD
TJA Mommersteeg
Monique Vandermolen
Z Maria Oden
Wen Chao, MD

1994
Farshid Guilak, PhD
Jian-Ling Yao, MD
Greta M Lee, PhD
Paul Pollice, MD
Diane Raab-Cullen, PhD
Ted S Gross, PhD
Sheldon Lin, MD
Brodie Wood

1993
Kjell S Olmarker, MD
Annette Lundgaard, MD
TL Lincoln
Harry K.W. Kim, MD
GS Kitay
Jo A Hannafin, MD
K Hoy, Honorable Mention
AHRW Simpson, Honorable Mention
NA Hadley, Honorable Mention
Seiya S Jingushi, MD, Honorable Mention
Roger Nightingale, Honorable Mention
R Pereia, Honorable Mention

1992
Carl R Flannery, PhD
Steve P Evanko
Benjamin A Alman, MD
Rick B Delamarter, MD
X Edward Guo, PhD
Scott J Hollister, PhD

For more information contact Matt Zuleg [email protected]

Thank you to Our ORS 2024 New Investigator Recognition Awards (NIRA) Sponsors!