Clinical Research

Talent and Collaboration: Intellectual Synergy

The collaboration between basic scientists performing bench-level (laboratory) research and physicians conducting clinical (patient-oriented) research is the hallmark of the Orthopaedic and Rheumatologic Research Center (ORRC) at the Cleveland Clinic.

Basic science studies explain how healthy tissues function, why they change in various diseases, and what makes certain people prone to developing a disease or sustaining an injury. Clinical research systematically evaluates which treatments work best in caring for patients with musculoskeletal disorders.

The ORRC has more than 50 principal investigators – many of whom are internationally recognized leaders in their field – in addition to some 150 graduate students, clinical and research fellows, residents, medical students, engineers, technicians and support personnel. Daily interaction among these groups allows discoveries in the basic sciences to be applied to patient care much more rapidly.

Center investigators also collaborate extensively with researchers from outside organizations such as the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), biomedical corporations, and local, national and international institutions and universities.

A History of Accomplishments

Many discoveries by our basic researchers and innovations by our orthopaedic surgeons are being translated into clinical practice, or already have been. Examples include:

  • New total joint replacement and bone-lengthening techniques
  • Invention of the Kurosaka screw, the world’s most widely used device for fixation of bone-tendon-bone grafts in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Such fixation devices allow for early postoperative motion and permissive rehabilitation
  • Use of pre-emptive analgesia to streamline rehabilitation and improve outcome after ACL reconstruction
  • Pioneering use of biomechanical validation for posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction, the tibial inlay technique
  • Development of a unique method for harvesting and concentrating stem cells from bone marrow to enhance healing of tendon, cartilage, ligaments and bone after surgery, injury, or disease
  • Identifying the drop in connective-tissue progenitor cells in bone marrow with age, which may be important in the development of osteoporosis
  • Helping design and test hip, knee and shoulder prostheses, and optimize their function
  • Refinement of kyphoplasty, a minimally invasive surgical treatment for spinal fractures due to osteoporosis or spinal tumors
  • Development of new instruments for minimally invasive, arthroscopic and standard surgery in the shoulder, knee, hip and spine
  • Advances in preserving peripheral nerve allografts in immunosuppressive therapy for their transplantation

ORRC researchers have also helped to advance scientific understanding and treatment in such areas as:

  • Foot prosthetics and gait
  • Prevention of hip fractures from falls
  • Prevention of knee ligament injuries in sport
  • Genetic control of skeletal development
  • Surgical correction of knee-ligament injuries
  • Diabetic foot ulcers
  • Musculoskeletal tumor registries and clinical research

Go the Basic Science Research or Clinical Research pages of this site for information on current research and ORRC researchers.

A Satisfied Patient

Mary Morden, M.D., founding “mother” of an international organization of female orthopaedic surgeons, was told her shoulder couldn’t be repaired after two failed rotator-cuff surgeries. Following a nationwide search, she turned to Cleveland Clinic Orthopaedic Research Center Co-chairman Joseph Iannotti, M.D., Ph.D., for help.

He suggested an investigational procedure for severe rotator cuff injuries that could restore use of her shoulder. Using a special device to measure rotator-cuff tension, Dr. Iannotti surgically repaired the tendon, then sewed a bioengineered tissue graft over it for reinforcement and to enhance healing.

Since her surgery, Dr. Morden is able to practice medicine, swim a mile every day, and sail the Michigan shoreline with her husband.