Foundation and History
The Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Research Centers (ORRC) was established in 2001 as a joint effort of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering to advance the health and treatment of people with disorders of the musculoskeletal system.
ORRC serves this mission by providing a collaborative forum and administrative structure that enables the identification of opportunities and the development of strategic initiatives which enhance and expand multidisciplinary collaboration within and between individual investigators and groups, both within the Cleveland Clinic and with outside collaborators.
ORRC both mobilizes and serves the outstanding clinical staff of the Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Institute, the robust resource of knowledge and technology provided by investigators in Biomedical Engineering, and the Cleveland Clinic community.
ORRC membership is voluntary, and currently includes 36 clinicians and 16 basic scientists drawing upon the expertise of 13 clinical and research departments.
Collaborative Teams
ORRC supports many collaborative teams of physicians and scientists who focus on advancing the quality of clinical care and the development and assessment of new knowledge and therapies for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and disease.
These teams have also developed and hosted the Musculoskeletal Innovation Summit Series, which has offered nearly annual summits from 2004 through 2011.
Some of these groups include:
Bone Health and Osteoporosis, led by Chad Deal, M.D., include members from Endocrinology, Rheumatology, Orthopaedics, Radiology, Pathology, Biomedical Engineering, Taussig Cancer Center, and the Center for Women’s Health.
Arthritis, led by Elaine Husni, MD, MPH, including members from Endocrinology, Rheumatology, Orthopaedics, Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Sports Health.
Shoulder and Tendon Repair, led by Joseph Iannotti, M.D, Ph.D. and Kathleen Derwin, Ph.D.
Spine, led by Robert McLain, M.D.
Success Stories
ORRC has realize a series of successes that have demonstrated its effectiveness in helping members and teams accomplish more in collaboration than they might do alone.
ORRC leadership received an NIH Musculoskeletal Training grant (2004-2007), directed by Joseph Iannotti, M.D., Ph.D. and Peter Cavanagh, Ph.D., respective chairs of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering. This advanced our capacity to developing future leaders in musculoskeletal care, research, and education. Training included clinical residents, fellows, post-doctoral fellows in clinical research and basic science and graduate students, medical students, and undergraduates.
ORRC members established an NIH Musculoskeletal Core Center Grant (2004-2007), led by Vincent Hascall, Ph.D. and Suneel Apte, M.B.B.S., D.Phil., which enabled ongoing NIH research by providing core funding for histology, image processing, biorobotics & biomechanics services that continue today.
ORRC activities expanded to an inter-institutional role in 2005 with the award of a $4M grant from the Ohio Third Frontier Foundation, establishing the Clinical Tissue Engineering Center (CTEC), with George Muschler, M.D. as Director, a collaboration between the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University. CTEC represents 61 musculoskeletal investigators and will serve as a regional resource to accelerate the rate of development of new products and therapies in Ohio. CTEC was funded again 2008-2011 with $5M, and has cumulatively returned over $46M in economic benefit to the State of Ohio, contributing to 71 new jobs, $41MM in external grants, 27 patents, and 3 new companies.
In 2008, ORRC expertise and leadership contributed significantly to the formation of the Rutgers-Cleveland Clinic Consortium of the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM), which focused the expertise and resources of over 20 laboratories from 15 institutions and $42.5M in Department of Defense funding on the national challenge of developing new regenerative therapies to address the unique needs of wounded warriors. Five ORRC members participate as AFIRM investigators. Dr. Muschler served as the Co-Director of the Rutgers-Cleveland Clinic Consortium and a member of the AFIRM Steering Committee from 2008-2011.
ORRC leadership has also focused significant attention on the need and opportunity for Cleveland Clinic leadership in the measurement and management of clinical quality. This resulted in the Cleveland Clinic and ORI hosting the first Musculoskeletal Quality Innovation Summit in 2009, and a the recent Health Care Quality Innovation Summit in 2011.
In 2009, ORRC leaders coined the term “O-O Syndrome”, to describe the integral relationship between obesity and the occurrence and progression of osteoarthritis of the knee. This is the focus of a major quality initiative designed to transform the way in which patients presenting with this combination of pathology are managed.