First National Institute of Health (NIH) Grant Awarded to Rush Sports Medicine Surgeon

CHICAGO, May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — For the first time in Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR) history, one of its sports medicine physicians has been awarded a National Institute of Health (NIH) grant as a Principal Investigator (PI). Adam Yanke, MD, PhD, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush surgeon and Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center, and Co-PI Nozomu Inoue, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center, will study the properties of donor knee cartilage to identify how to best match it with patients undergoing cartilage transplantation. Dr. Yanke is also the Assistant Director of the Cartilage Restoration Center at Rush, which has helped pioneer many cartilage transplantation techniques over the last 15 years.

Osteochondral allograft transplantation is a form of cartilage restoration typically performed in the knee to treat patients with focal chondral defects of the knee (damage to the cartilage that lines the end of the bones in the knee joint). Chondral defects can be a significant source of pain in young, active people. Successful osteochondral allograft transplantation relies on ensuring proper matching of the donor tissue to the recipient. Inconsistencies between the donor and recipient surface may lead to an increased structural failure rate or other negative outcomes.

In addition, the principal investigators will evaluate the effectiveness of using less cumbersome and less costly imaging to study the donor cartilage. While conventional CT and/or MRI imaging is currently used to study tissue, newer imaging technologies are emerging that can be used at the point of care including 3D scanning using handheld devices. The investigators’ pilot study supports the use of these techniques and proposes that they could also be used during allograft preparation and cartilage transplantation surgery to improve matching and the surgical transplantation technique overall.

“We are excited that Drs. Yanke and Inoue are continuing our long tradition of impactful research being conducted by clinician-scientists,” says Dr. Joshua Jacobs, Chairperson, Rush Department of Orthopedic Surgery. “Translating these research findings back into the clinic and operating room to achieve better clinical outcomes is truly what makes our doctors unique and our reputation widespread.”

Previous Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush PIs of NIH grants include Drs. Howard An, Gunnar Andersson, Jorge Galante, and Joshua Jacobs.

SOURCE Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush