Research
One of the fundamental missions of the Department of Orthopaedic
Surgery at the University of California, Irvine is the advancement
of musculoskeletal medicine and healthcare. It is this critical
mission that helps to define our orthopaedic department. Towards
this end, we have five full time research laboratories at
multiple locations within the University of California, Irvine
including the Irvine main campus, UC Irvine Medical Center,
and the Long Beach VA Medical Center.
Currently there are eight active grants, totaling $3,043,227
in extramural funding.
The department was also among the top 50 US departments of
orthopaedic surgery in terms of NIH funding. In 2006 alone,
two of our core faculty members won two of the major research
awards in musculoskeletal medicine, i.e. the Neer award for
the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (Dr.
Thay Lee) and the Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award
from the Orthopaedic Research Society and American Academy
of Orthopaedic Surgery (Dr. Ranjan
Gupta).
The following are the current areas of research excellence
in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Bone Biomechanics Laboratory (P.I.: Joyce H. Keyak, Ph. D.)
Dr. Keyak’s laboratory focuses on developing new surgical
techniques and treatment modalities for patients with metastases
in bone and is developing new tools for identifying patients
at risk of osteoporotic or pathologic hip fracture.
Musculoskeletal Oncology Laboratory (P.I.: Bang H. Hoang,
M.D.)
Dr. Hoang’s laboratory focuses on the molecular pathogenesis
of bone and soft tissue sarcomas with an emphasis on modulating
various signaling pathways to decrease tumor growth and metastasis.
Neuromuscular
Research Laboratory (P.I.: Vince J. Caiozzo, Ph.D.)
Dr. Caiozzo’s laboratory focuses on muscle physiology
and mechanics, especially in regard to space exploration and
orthopedics.
Orthopaedic
Biomechanics Research Laboratory (P.I.: Thay Q Lee, Ph.D.
)
Dr. Lee’s laboratory focuses orthopaedic applied biomechanics
research with an emphasis on shoulder and knee as related
to sports injuries and joint replacement.
Peripheral
Nerve Research Laboratory ( P.I.: Ranjan Gupta, M.D.)
Dr. Gupta’s laboratory focuses on the Schwann cell control
of neural injury with an emphasis on understanding the molecular
pathogenesis of chronic nerve injuries, improving treatments
for spinal cord injury, and exploring the role of neural injury
with rotator cuff injuries.
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