As an academic physician at Duke, I am able to stay at the cutting edge of sports medicine science. I run both a basic science laboratory and a clinical research enterprise, all with the focus of improving our care of patients with sports injuries. In the lab, I study cartilage - specifically how it heals (or doesn't). Understanding cartilage healing could improve the way we treat sports injuries, but also osteoarthritis, a common condition that causes significant pain and dysfunction. We use animal and bench top models of cartilage injury, and are particularly interested in the remarkable healing potential in the young. Another focus of my lab is the study of "biologics" - products derived from our own tissues that can be used to improve healing or treat disease (PRP, stem cells, amniotic products, etc.). As these products gain clinical popularity, I am committed to understanding how they work at the most fundamental level, so that they can be applied safely and effectively to human disease. My clinical research efforts focus on rehabilitation and injury prevention after ACL surgery in children. Almost 1 in 3 children who have an ACL reconstruction will suffer another tear during childhood, and I am committed to designing new rehab strategies and tools for return to play decisions to minimize these risks.
