In February 2019, four members of the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine’s Orthopedic Surgery and Research teams presented their research at the 49^th Annual Veterinary Orthopedic Society Conference (VOS) in Breckenridge, Colorado.

At this year’s conference, seven abstracts were selected for Mark Bloomberg Resident Research Awards. Dr. Griselda Lam and Dr. Danielle Marturello were two of these selected. Of those seven finalists, Marturello was selected for the single Mark Bloomberg Award for Best Podium Presentation. Additionally, Dr. Ming Lu was awarded for Best Research Podium Presentation.

“Congratulations are due to Dr. Marturello, Dr. Lam, Dr. Lu, and our entire team. These presentations were flawless, but more importantly, they demonstrate the remarkable work being conducted in MSU veterinary orthopedics by young and talented clinician scientists,” says Dr. Loïc Déjardin, professor and head of orthopedic surgery at the MSU Veterinary Medical Center. “It’s an outstanding representation of what we’ve accomplished.”

Presenters at VOS from the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine included:

• Dr. Albane Fauron, research associate for Small Animal Orthopedics and MS candidate in the Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology (CMIB) Program, gave a podium presentation on her work regarding a surgical technique for cranial cruciate ligament reconstruction in a rabbit model. This research effort serves as the basis for a larger study, which aims to evaluate a novel treatment for the prevention of post-traumatic osteoarthritis following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture in people, a debilitating and painful condition that commonly develops in the knee, despite ACL reconstruction. Fauron’s work is ongoing and supported by a Department of Defense grant. She is mentored by Déjardin.
• Dr. Griselda Lam, surgery resident for Small Animal Clinical Sciences, presented a podium presentation on external skeletal fixation in avian bone and a poster presentation on use of three-dimensional computer-assisted surgical planning in a clinical case. Lam was awarded a Bloomberg Award for Best Scientific Abstract for her external skeletal fixation study in avian bone, which was supported by the Michael E. Scott Endowment Fund, an MSU Endowed Research Fund. As part of her Bloomberg award, Lam’s way to the conference was paid by VOS and she received a commemorative plaque. Lam is mentored by Dr. Sun Young Kim, assistant professor and orthopedic surgeon at MSU.
• Dr. Ming Lu, international surgical scholar for Small Animal Clinical Sciences, presented his work during a podium presentation that focused on three-dimensional kinematics of the canine stifle, a project which initiated in Taiwan. He received the award for Best Research Podium Presentation. Lu’s mentor for the presented study is Dr. Ching-Ho Wu from National Taiwan University. He also is mentored by Dr. Sun Young Kim and Dr. Bryden Stanley at MSU.
• Dr. Danielle Marturello, surgery resident for Small Animal Clinical Sciences and MS candidate with CMIB, presented a subset of her master’s research project that compared the mechanical behavior of two feline interlocking nails. Her project was supported by two MSU Endowed Research Fund grants—the “Mouse” Fund for Feline Health and the Feline Health Endowment Fund. Additionally, she received funding from the American College of Veterinary Surgeons Surgeon in Training Grant. Marturello received a Bloomberg Award for Best Scientific Abstract and the Bloomberg Award for Best Podium Presentation. As part of her Bloomberg awards, Marturello’s way to the conference was paid by VOS and she received a commemorative plaque. Marturello is mentored by Déjardin.

“To present at a national conference like this is a great accomplishment; to be singled out further with a prestigious award is truly noteworthy. Our young clinician scientists make us—Dr. Déjardin, I, and the entire College community—immensely proud,” says Dr. Vilma Yuzbasiyan-Gurkan, professor and associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies for the College. “Our residents excel in the clinic and in the research arena, writing winning grants and carrying out exciting research. Their work has impact in the veterinary clinic and in medicine at large. These clinician scientists exemplify what it means to be a Spartan veterinarian, and uphold the College’s mission to learn, discover, heal, and protect.”

Fauron, Lam, Lu, and Marturello are just the latest in a long line of success for MSU veterinary orthopedics. MSU’s leadership in orthopedics began with the late Dr. Wade O. Brinker, who is regarded as the father of veterinary orthopedics. Brinker was one of five surgeons who organized the College of Veterinary Surgeons in the late 1950s; this helped shape the VOS, which he helped found in the 1970s. Brinker also was VOS’s first president. Additionally, Brinker is a founding father of AOVET North America, a global network of surgeons and scientists dedicated to the improvement of surgical fracture treatment. Brinker, who was on-staff at MSU for more than 40 years, is known for his mentorship, including to Dr. Gretchen Flo, professor emeritus, and Dr. Terry Braden, professor emeritus, as well as his research that continues to be relevant today and the clinical training environment that he instilled in MSU.

The College is now home to the Wade O. Brinker Endowed Professor of Veterinary Surgery, which was established when Brinker retired from MSU. It has since received thousands of donations. Dr. Steven Arnoczky, the inaugural Brinker Chair, started the Laboratory for Comparative Orthopaedic Research, and has made massive strides in orthopedic discovery and research, including work in meniscal anatomy, blood supply, and transplant; tissue engineering; HIV transmission prevention; and biomaterial testing and computational biology. For his work, Arnoczky has received many awards, among which are two O’Donoghue Awards for Sports Medicine Research presented by the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Arnoczky is the second non-physician ever to receive this award.

Arnoczky also is known for his mentorship. He, along with Flo and Braden, mentored Déjardin, who came to MSU as the College’s first International Surgical Fellow. Déjardin’s research regarding surgical fracture repair, biomechanics, implant design, and minimally invasive surgery have had lasting and paradigm-shifting impact on the world of orthopedics. Déjardin is the founder of a comprehensive minimally invasive osteosynthesis (MIO) program and inventor of an interlocking nail used in MIO (the I-Loc™ intramedullary nail) and of the sacroiliac luxation instrument system (SILIS-MILAD), which allows for accurate and reliable fracture reduction and fixation while eliminating radiation hazard to surgical teams.

Déjardin, who on several occasions had the memorable opportunity to perform surgery with Brinker, is a mentor himself. On his surgical team is Dr. Karen Perry, who joined MSU from the Royal Veterinary College in London, UK in 2015, and Dr. Sun Young Kim, who joined MSU from the University of California at Davis.

Read more about MSU’s veterinary orthopedic legacy in Perspectives Magazine. For inquiries regarding research at the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, contact the Office of Research and Graduate Studies.