Congratulations to the Recipient of the 2024 PSRS Lifetime Research Achievement Award!

Mauro Alini, PhD, AO Research Institute

Mauro Alini graduated in Chemistry from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1983. Since then, he has been involved in connective tissue research, starting from his PhD research work, which focused on the isolation and characterization of proteoglycans extracted from both normal human mammary gland and carcinomas thereof. In September 1988, he joined the Joint Diseases Laboratory at the Shriners Hospital in Montreal to work on quantitative and qualitative changes in extracellular matrix proteins (particularly proteoglycans and collagens) of the growth plate tissue before and at the time of cartilage matrix calcification during endochondral bone formation. In January 1995, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery of the McGill University and head of the Biochemistry Unit of the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, working to develop new biological approaches to treating intervertebral disc damage. In July 2000, until 2019, he was the head of the Musculoskeletal Regeneration Program (40 scientists) at the AO Research Institute (Davos, Switzerland), focusing on cartilage, bone and intervertebral disc tissue engineering. From September 2009 until September 2023, Mauro was also the Vice-Director of the same Research Institute (more than 100 scientists). Presently, he is Emeritus Research Advisor at the AO Research Institute. He received the Marshall R. Urist Award in 2015 from the Orthopaedic Research Society (USA). He gave the Ian MacNab lecture (Canadian Orthopaedic Association) in 2019, and he received the Career Achievement Award from the EU-TERMIS chapter in 2023.

Total Publications >330; Book Chapters, 14; 7 patents; h-Index: 95; total number of citations: >30’000; Source of citation data: Google Scholar

Nominations Now Closed

The PSRS Lifetime Research Achievement Award was created in 2013 by the Philadelphia Spine Research Society (PSRS) to honor an investigator who has established him/herself with sustained and long-lasting contributions to spine research. The award is given at the ORS PSRS International Research Symposium and is made possible by generous support from Irving M. Shapiro, BDS, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University Spine Research Award Fund.

Overview

This award, presented by the ORS and the Philadelphia Spine Research Society (PSRS), provides an honorarium of $1,000 and complimentary registration to the 7th International Spine Research Symposium to an investigator who has established him/herself with sustained and long-lasting contributions to spine research.

Recognition

• An honorarium of $1,000
• Commemorative plaque

The winner must register and be present at the ORS PSRS 7th International Spine Research Symposium to accept the award. The winner will receive a complimentary registration for the meeting.

Submissions

The submission package must include:
• Description of the major research accomplishments of the nominee (approx. 250 words)
• Two letters of recommendation
• A recent curriculum vitae of the nominee (NIH Biosketches will not be accepted).

The deadline for nominations was Tuesday, August 13, 2024.

The complete package, prepared by a nominator on behalf of the nominee, must be submitted online through the PSRS Lifetime Achievement Award form by August 13, 2024 through the link below.

The Lifetime Achievement Awards Committee will review all nominations and select a single nominee to receive the award.

The PSRS, founded in 2004, was set up to bring together members of the Greater Philadelphia community of basic scientists, bioengineers, and spine surgeons concerned with studies of the intervertebral disc and the associated spinal tissues. Over the last decade, the PSRS has broadened its reach to include a truly global community of researchers interested in the intervertebral disc and spine.

Makarand V. Risbud, PhD, Chair
Irving Shapiro, BDS, PhD
Jill Urban, PhD
Judith Hoyland, PhD
Michele Battie, PhD

2024 Mauro Alini, PhD, AO Research Institute
2022 Professor Judith Hoyland, PhD, University of Manchester
2019 Professor Michele Battie, PhD, University of Calgary
2017 Jill Urban, PhD, Oxford University
2015 Professor Peter Roughley, PhD, McGill University
2013 Professor Irving Shapiro, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University