ORL hosts Girls Inc Eureka! Summer Program

018Alice Huang presents background on tendon research in the Huang Lab to Girls Inc students (Photo credit: Nomi Ellenson)

On August 2, the Orthopaedic Research Labs hosted 20 students from the Girls Inc Eureka! Summer Program.  Girls Inc. Eureka! Is a STEM-based approach to engaging and empowering 8th-12th grade girls for future success.  The ORL visit kicked off with scientific presentations by Dr. Alice Huang on tendon research and Dr. James Iatridis on spine research.  Didactic presentations were followed by hands-on rotations through six modules led by our trainees and staff: mouse gait analysis, fluorescence microscopy, tendon tissue engineering, cryosectioning, orthopaedic biomechanics, and spine organ culture.  The event capped with an inspiring Q&A discussion with Dr. Leesa Galatz on what it means to be a clinician-scientist.  Special thanks to Kristen Howell, Jerry Chien, Varun Arvind, Anton Doe, Phil Nasser, Christina Beck, Olivia Torre, and Rose Long for leading the lab modules, LifeSci Advisors for providing lab coats to the students, and all of the Girls Inc students for allowing us to share our love of science with you!

Read more about Girls, Inc. Eureka!’s visit to the ORL:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/13/science-tech-engineering-math-stem-jobs-gender-gap-new-york

Lab tour with Girls, Inc. Eureka!

Orthopaedic Research Society Spine Section 2016 Annual Meeting

Spine-Section-Awards-1024x684ORS Spine Section 2016 Poster and Podium award winners with ORS Spine Section leadership.

The ORS Spine Section held its first section meeting on Friday, March 4 as part of the ORS 2016 Annual Meeting programming at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida.

The theme for the 2016 meeting was Spine Research for Functional Translation with scientific symposia on animal models and imaging. Invited speakers included spine researchers and clinicians representing academics, government, and industry.

The ORS Spine Section meeting aimed to disseminate cutting edge information on focus topics of interest, to develop & strengthen collaborative research networks, to support young investigators, and to engage clinicians & industry experts.  Dr. James Iatridis (shown sixth from left) served as the Chair of the newly created ORS Spine section for 2015 and 2016.  Svenja Illien-Junger, PhD (shown third from left) received a Podium Award at for her presentation at this year’s meeting.  In all, Dr. Iatridis’ Spine Bioengineer Lab had nine podium presentations at the ORS.

In addition, Mount Sinai alums Dr. Devina Purmessur and Dr. Nelly Andarawis-Puri organized two popular New Investigator mentoring sessions: I) Successfully competing for a faculty position and II) How to lead and motivate a successful team.  As one of the leaders of Orthopaedic Research, Dr. James Iatridis was invited to give a lecture on “Choosing the right people” for the second session.

The tendon research program was well represented at the ORS this year with three podium presentations given by Dr. Alice Huang, Kristen Howell, and David Shiovitz.  Dr. Huang also served as a moderator for the New Investigator mentoring sessions I and II, as well as Tendon and Ligament: Cell Biology and Development.