- The Laboratory is delighted to learn that Dr. Mohammed Shamji has received the WE Collins Top Paper Award for the 2008 Annual Research Day at the Ottawa Hospital. This marks the second time that Mohammed has earned this award, this time for his work on animal models of radiculopathy.
- May 2008: Congratulations to our graduating students, Kaizhen Chen (MS 2008), Melissa Tsuboyama, Priscilla Hwang and Tiffany Chang. Best wishes for your future pursuits!
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April 2008: Congratulations to Chris Gilchrist for receiving the 2008 Kewaunee Student Achievement Award from the Center for Biosurface and Tissue Engineering. Chris received the award at a banquet where he was acknowledge for a high level of research productivity and history of student mentorship.
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April 2008: Dr. Kyle Adams was awarded a prestigious National Research Service Award from the NIH for his project, "Symptomatic and Functional Biomarkers of IVD Degeneration in a Small Animal Model." Kyle will receive support from the National Institute of Arthritis and Muscloskeletal Diseases for this 1-year project that advances the study of gait and other measures for studying musculoskeletal disease.
- March 2008: Congratulations to Dr. Samuel Adams who is a 2008 recipient of an OREF/Depuy Orthopaedic Resident Educational Grant. This grant will support Sam to study "Local Delivery and Sustained Release of an Anti-Arthritic Agent Using a Novel Injectable Thermally Responsive Protein" in the coming year.
- March 2008: Dr. Mohammed Shamji had the opportunity to present his work at the AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine (Orlando) and Canadian Spine Society (Kamloops, Canada). The paper related to biodistribution of thermally-responsive biopolymers following perineural delivery. This work is being published as a manuscript in the April 2008 edition of Spine.
- March 2008: Dr. Samuel Adams recently presented his work at the Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society. Sam presented a paper on his evaluations of novel drug delivery strategies for arthritis entitled, "A Thermally Responsive Fusion Protein of Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist (IL-1Ra) Attenuates the Pathologic Response of Knee Joint Cartilage to IL-1 in an In Vivo Model."
- February 2008: Congratulations to Dr. Mohammed Shamji for successfully completing a 40 mile ultramarathon run up and down Mount Mitchell in 7 hours and 26 minutes. Mohammed sustained only minor injuries during elevation changes of 4000 feet up to the summit and then back down (see photo). Sadly, colleague Kenny Roberts did not join Mohammed on this journey but check back soon for new marathon updates!
- December 2007: The laboratory's work in understanding genetic contributions to osteoarthritis were largely featured at the recent meeting of the World Congress on Osteoarthritis in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Jun Chen presented a paper on her work, entitled, "Evaluation of Intervertebral Disc and Vertebral Endplate Degeneration in ADAMTS5 (aggrecase-2) Knockout Mice." Dr. Kyle Allen also presented a paper on his work, entitled, "Type IX Collagen Knockout Is Associated with Altered Gait Behaviors and Mechanical Allodynia in Mice."