With a bow towards biology, the Orthopaedic Research Society and the American Orthopaedic Association have just presented Adele L. Boskey, Ph.D., the Starr Chair in Mineralized Tissue Research at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York, with the Alfred R. Shands, M.D. Jr. Award. Dr. Boskey, Director of the Mineralized Tissue Laboratory at HSS, is known for her work in biomineralization and osteoporosis.
“I can’t think of a more deserving recipient, ” said Regis J. O’Keefe, M.D., Ph.D., President of the Orthopaedic Research Society, in the news release. “I am pleased and honored to have a part in this recognition of Dr. Boskey’s distinguished work.”
Dr. Boskey told OTW,
It is a great honor to have been chosen as the 2010 Shands’ Award winner for my achievements in orthopaedic research, to be the second woman chosen for this prestigious award, and to be counted among the orthopaedic research leaders who have changed the face of orthopaedic surgery today. I hope that my continuing mentoring and research activities will continue to have a sustained impact.
Dr. Boskey the program director of the Musculoskeletal Integrity Program at Hospital for Special Surgery, and was the first female president of the Orthopaedic Research Society. Her mentoring of other women researchers was recognized in 2008 with an award from the Orthopaedic Research Society Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF).
Dr. Boskey’s research focuses on bone quality, which takes into account the bone matrix and the mineral of bone. While most are using bone density to identify osteoporosis and the possibility of fractures, Dr. Boskey believes that measuring bone quality promises greater accuracy and could significantly decrease the number of patients that are at high risk for fracture because the quality, not quantity, of their bones puts them in danger.
Dr. Boskey is using infrared spectroscopy to approach the quality of bone when biopsies are available. Her laboratory, the Musculoskeletal Repair and Regeneration Core Center at Hospital for Special Surgery, which is one of only five national core centers funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, is using this to understand how mineral size and content are tied into osteoporosis and fracture risk.
“Biology will become more important in the study and treatment of orthopaedic disease in the future, ” stated Dr. Boskey in the news release. In the case of arthroscopy she stated, “I foresee less of an emphasis on metals and devices and more on understanding the biology that leads to the need for a total joint or revision.”
Elaborating on her work, Dr. Boskey told OTW,
My current research continues to focus on the extracellular matrix proteins that regulate the way bone and tooth mineral develops, on the role of collagen in controlling bone formation, and on understanding how current therapeutics modify bone quality.
