The Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies (CAOS)

Laboratory-based research within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at BIDMC is centralized at the Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies (CAOS) in the Research North building opposite Fenway Park. There are currently six Principal Investigators within CAOS: Drs. Ron Alkalay, Mary Bouxsein, Christopher Evans, Ara Nazarian, Ryan Porter and Brian Snyder. We are sad this year to announce that Dr. Christopher Evans has accepted a position at Mayo Clinic, Rochester and we be leaving BIDMC in November. It is a terrific and well-deserved opportunity for him to further his gene therapy studies, but he will be greatly missed.

It is common knowledge that NIH funding for research has fallen dramatically in the past few years. We are thus pleased to report a number of successes.

Dr. Bouxsein was awarded NIH funding to explore possible mechanisms underlying atypical femoral fractures that have been reported in long-term bisphosphonate users. In addition, Dr. Bouxsein and Dr. Douglas Kiel are co-principal investigators on a newly awarded 5-year NIH grant to study the association between in vivo measurements of bone microarchitecture and risk of fractures in the Framingham Heart Study cohort.

In Rome on April 17, 2013, Dr. Bouxsein was awarded the ESCEO-IOF Herbert Fleisch Medal in honor of her work in the field of skeletal fragility. The annual award from the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) and the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), valued at 20,000 EUR, recognizes a researcher who has made outstanding and groundbreaking achievements in basic bone science.

Dennis Anderson, Ph.D., a member of Dr. Bouxsein’s lab, was recently promoted to Instructor in Orthopaedic Surgery at HMS. He was also awarded a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Grant from the National Institute of Aging in August!

Dr. Brian Snyder is currently engaged in a 3 year Department of Defense funded study to evaluate the kinematics of the cervical spine and biomechanics of the IVD when troops are performing in extreme environments such as helicopter, fast-boat and combat conditions.

Dr. Ara Nazarian’s work focuses on basic biomechanics and bioimaging of normal and pathologic cancellous and cortical bone, with emphasis on fracture prediction resultant from local and systemic skeletal pathologies. His current projects are the CT-based Structural Rigidity Analysis (CTRA) methodology, which he has worked on for the past eight years with Dr. Brian Snyder, and the major league baseball funded study with Drs. Ramappa and DeAngelis, a Major League Baseball concerning thrower’s shoulder. He also has a K99/R00 award.