David M. Joyner, M.D. Now Senior VP at Andrews Institute
David M. Joyner, M.D., a former chairman and senior member of the United States Olympic Committee sports medicine team, will put his talents to work as senior vice president and executive director of the Andrews Institute. The Andrews Institute was founded by internationally renowned orthopedic surgeon, James Andrews, M.D.
Dr. Joyner was most recently the athletic director for Penn State University and a member of the Penn State University Board of Trustees. He told OTW, “I am honored to be part of such a renowned organization that provides orthopaedic and sports medicine care to everyone from elite athletes that travel the globe to receive care here to residents in our own backyard in Gulf Breeze, Florida. We work hard to apply the same sports medicine principals to all of our patients, whether they are a goalie, gardener or grandpa.”
“As a new member of the leadership team, I will explore opportunities moving forward where we can continue to improve. We always focus on providing the best patient care, as well as advancing the science of orthopaedics and sports medicine through research and education. Applying evidence-based medicine directly to patient care is what we do, and improving that process in a safe and efficient manner is how we will continue to provide best-in-class patient outcomes.”
Asked about his plans for strategic business partnerships/affiliations or recruitment, Dr. Joyner added, “While we already have a highly selective and competitive process for partnerships, affiliations and recruitment, I will work with other members of the Andrews Institute and Pensacola-based Baptist Health Care leadership teams to enhance the care we provide, and where appropriate, will look seriously at strategic alignments.”
Jennifer Seifert, Ph.D. New Senior Scientist at TissueGen
Jennifer Seifert, Ph.D., an award-winning bioengineer, is inaugurating a new role at TissueGen…Dr. Seifert has just been named the company’s first Senior Scientist. Dr. Seifert, who was most recently at the University of Texas (UT) at Dallas, will be responsible for TissueGen’s application of ELUTE fiber technology for the treatment of spinal cord and other injuries.
At UT, Dr. Seifert held the post of research assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering. An expert in molecular biology and neuroscience, Dr. Seifert has devoted her research primarily to the development of repair strategies for the central and peripheral nervous systems applying cellular and molecular mechanisms of axonal growth.
Asked about the most exciting areas of research in the area of spinal cord injuries, Dr. Seifert told OTW, “This is an exciting time in the area of spinal cord injury repair, with recent technology breakthroughs poised to potentially allow unprecedented progress in treatment approaches. New developments in drug delivery will allow for more controlled and tunable localized treatment options that were not possible before. Additionally, advancements in the understanding of combinatorial effects of varied treatments (such as growth factors, physical rehabilitation, electrical stimulation) on regeneration/reinnervation and plasticity are making great strides towards functional improvement for patients living with SCI.”
“I am looking forward to learning more about the many capabilities of TissueGen’s ELUTE fibers and to fully understanding the production process. A large focus of my career to date has been to apply knowledge of cellular neuroscience and signal transduction to models of spinal cord injury repair. TissueGen’s proprietary technology—which enables a wider variety of drugs and therapeutic agents than ever before possible to be delivered directly to surgical sites—opens up the opportunity for new approaches to advanced treatments in nerve repair which I look forward to exploring.”
Augment Surgical Skills, Save Time With Microvascular Training
A recent study is shining a light on a specialized skill that only some orthopedic surgeons possess—microvascular surgery. Specifically, Jia-Wei Kevin Ko, M.D. and his colleagues from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) wanted to determine how effective a training program would be on the development of microvascular surgical skills in OHSU orthopedic residents. Dr. Ko, now a fellow at the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, tells OTW, “Microvascular training has traditionally been taught at courses, not residency programs. There are, however, secondary benefits to such instruction. If a surgeon iatrogenically injures a vessel during a procedure, he or she would typically call in a vascular surgeon. The problem is that this is not an immediate resource for every orthopedic surgeon in the U.S. And although in a major city a vascular surgeon is on call, it could take time before he or she could get to the OR.”
“For our study, we had third-year residents undergo an eight week training course in microvascular surgery while they were on the hand and upper-extremity service. They learned the basics on simulation latex model and then progressed to a rat model. We found that all residents significantly improved as far as tissue handling, efficiency, and ability to create a successful anastomosis.”
“Microvascular skills can be broadly applied to macrosurgery; one example is efficiency of motion. In microvascular surgery every wasted motion is magnified…and in a re-plant situation you are up against the clock.”
Asked why more residents aren’t exposed to such training, Dr. Ko noted, “It depends where you train and on your hand surgery experience. When I was a resident at OHSU we did hand replants, but they are time sensitive. During these cases an attending doesn’t have time to walk you through/teach you how to do a microvascular procedure when there are multiple digits that need to be replanted. In addition, to undertake such a program you must have to have an animal storage facility and have someone who can administer anesthesia to the rats, so that can be prohibitive at certain institutions.”
“You do need quite a bit of faculty support, however, as it is a one-on-one teaching situation. OHSU is fortunate to have the support of my faculty mentor, Dr. Adam Mirarchi, who championed the development of the lab. The burden of this faculty support can be offset with collaboration with other specialties such as plastic surgery or otolaryngology whose residents also may have the need to develop such skills.”
