The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery maintains active research programs at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The general thrust of the laboratories is the dissection of the mechanical-biological interactions that occur in regenerating bone and cartilage.

The Ross Research Building, located on the Johns Hopkins Hospital campus, has 7,500 square feet of lab space and houses our oncology research program, the Nerve Regeneration Lab and the Center for Musculoskeletal Research. And the International Center for Orthopaedic Advancement, located on the Bayview Campus, houses the Instrument Development Laboratory.

Molecular biologists, biochemists, cell biologists and biomechanical engineers are situated in our labs in an effort to foster maximal interdisciplinary exchanges and growth.

Resident Research

All residents spend 10 weeks during their third and fourth years on research and can choose from several projects that span a broad range of research interests. For those who are considering a career in academics, the opportunity to spend a longer period in the laboratory is both encouraged and supported.

T32 Training Grant

Major funding from the National Institutes of Health is driving an expansion of our research capabilities and will directly benefit our residency program. In addition to our eight funded R01 grants and three subcontracts on R01s at other institutions, we were awarded a T32 training grant in 2015.

This is an important new development and will support a program called Training in Orthopaedic Team Science (TOTS). The program was conceived as a means to better integrate musculoskeletal research into resident training and to incentivize interactions between residents and basic science and clinical faculty through translational research.

This grant provides a full year of protected research time for one resident during each year of the program. Each year, PGY2 residents can apply for the position, and one will be selected for the research year. That resident will then reenter the training program as a PGY3 at the conclusion of their research year.

The TOTS program will sponsor well-circumscribed, translational research projects by discovery teams. Trainees will complete a core curriculum in musculoskeletal pathobiology and fundamentals of clinical research execution. They will participate in both the research and didactic phases of the learning experience concurrently to ensure meaningful interaction between basic science and clinical team members.

We believe that the TOTS program will help the next generation of orthopaedic surgeons and scientists develop the skills they need to apply cutting-edge science to improve orthopaedic patient care.