Mark Abel, MD Lillian T. Pratt Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Professor of Pediatrics; Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; Medical Director, University of Virginia Motion Analysis and Motor Performance Laboratory; Division Head, Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics. Current research activities include outcome and surgical decisions in childhood onset spinal deformity. He also has done extensive research on cerebral palsy; natural development of gait and motor skills in diplegic cerebral palsy; effective muscle co-activation or forced generation in cerebral palsy; use of bracing in diplegic cerebral palsy and relation of energy expenditure index and motor function. Other clinical research interests include treatment of management of hip dysplasia .

Gary Balian, PhD Professor of Orthopaedics and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Director of Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, and Director of T32 Musculoskeletal Research Training Program. Dr. Balian is an internationally recognized cell biologist. He is responsible for coordinating the overall schedule for the basic science lecture series and oversees the residents involved in laboratory research. He is also responsible for instruction in biochemical aspects of orthopaedics. His research interests involve prostate cancer cell-bone marrow adhesion mediators. The contribution of this research to our understanding of cancer cell homing to bone may be forthcoming from the identification of molecular targets in bone. Bone repair is clearly a very important area of consideration in the field of musculoskeletal tissue regeneration. Inclusion of bone targeting factors in synthetic or natural polymers potentiate repair through mechanisms that are well characterized biologically at the cellular and molecular levels. Two unique bone targeting peptides potentiate the differentiation of mesenchymal cells in vitro, moreover, the peptides promote bone repair in critical sized unicortical defects. The potential anabolic effects of these novel peptides on bone density and gene expression is under investigation. 

Bradford C Bennett, PhD Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Research Director of the Motion Analysis and Motor Performance Laboratory. Prof. Bennett’s major research interests are in the organization, control, and biomechanics of human movement, especially walking. His research involves using biomechanics as a window into the organization of human movement and to develop advanced walking aids for children with cerebral palsy and others with walking disabilities. Current research includes the investigation of the use of a powered lower body exoskeleton by individuals that can not walk and the development of a powered walker by children with cerebral palsy and the elderly. Dr. Bennett also leads student teams that design and develop devices and systems to assist children with disabilities for the patients and clinicians at the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center.

Thomas E. Brown, MD Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery.  Involved in clinical trials for novel implants in adult reconstructive surgery and spine and joint infection antagonists.

Eric W. Carson, MD Associate Professor, University of Virginia; Medical Clinical Director, McCue Sports Medicine Center. Osteochondral injuries, ligament grafts, shoulder instability (articular cartilage matrix degradation, biomechanics, anatomy, physiology and cartilage research).

A. Bobby Chhabra, MD Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Division Head, Hand Surgery and Vice Chair. Area of expertise: hand, wrist, elbow, and peripheral nerve surgery.  Research interests include upper extremity fracture fixation, tendon repair, microvascular surgery, growth factor and tissue engineering techniques for flexor tendon repair. 

Quanjun Cui, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; Chief Orthopaedic Trauma Service; Medical Director, 6-East, Orthopaedic Surgery and Trauma. Research interests include (1) cellular and gene therapy for musculoskeletal diseases including osteonecrosis and fractures, (2) development of novel composite bone graft substitutes for the treatment of fractures and bone defects, and (3) pathogenesis and treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

Rashard Dacus, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. His research looks at tendon adhesion following repair as the process relates the mobilization protocols and the effect of growth factors on repair patterns.

Nicole Deal, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  Her research has focused on nerve repair using different neurorrhaphy techniques, including external fixator-assisted primary neurorrhaphy. She also has examined the effect of ice on reducing microvascular permeability following contusion.

David Diduch, MD Professor, University of Virginia; Head Orthopaedic Team Physician; Director, Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. Shoulder and knee surgery, in growth factor and cellular cartilage repair research with cells and growth factors as well as clinical sports medicine research.

Joseph Hart, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  The nearly ubiquitous incidence of early-onset osteoarthritis in the post-traumatic knee makes research in this patient group exciting and challenging.  Among the many contributing factors are exercise-related neuromuscular changes in the presence of muscle dysfunction.  I have investigated the effects of gender, core instability and previous joint injury on quadriceps muscle function, balance and neuromuscular performance during activities.  Therefore, my research will continue to focus on basic science (including animal models), translational and clinical trials research to provide the best evidence based treatments for active persons who are at risk for knee injury, re-injury and degeneration.

Xudong (Joshua) Li, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. His
research interests is in the restoration of a functional disc by an ex vivo approach using transplanted ADAS cells that are transduced with Ad-GDF-5 into the annulus of an injured disc. This research on GDF-5 engineered ADAS cells and the in vivo characterization of the disc could lead to a novel approach for the treatment of late stage disc injury or degeneration, and, if successful data from this project will support the effort to achieve disc repair in humans.

David M. Kahler, MD Associate Professor of Orthopaedics with fellowship training in Sports Medicine and Hand Surgery.  Special interest in trauma surgery and computer assisted surgery. His research centers around development of new techniques and workflows in image guided surgery and validation of existing techniques.  Current work emphasizes expansion of existing techniques for pelvic fractures toward use in routine long-bone fracture care.

Mark Miller, MD Assistant Professor, responsible for OITE review and Basic Science research in sports medicine and hamstring regeneration research. (Shoulder, Knee, Anatomy, Physiology)

Mark J. Romness, MD Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery; Secondary App't in Pediatrics. He has focused on the treatment of children with musculoskeletal problems and the effectiveness of those treatments.  Children with cerebral palsy and related disorders represent a sub-specialized area of his career. Motion analysis, cerebral palsy and muscle lengthening.

Francis Shen, MD Associate Professor, Involved with research involving improved fusion capacity following spinal decompression and instrumentation, spine surgery, spine fusion and mesenchymal cell based bone grafts for spine fusion. The purpose of his research is to develop a bone graft substitute that places osteogenic precursors, in the form of multipotential adipose-derived stromal cells, within bioabsorbable osteoconductive microspheres combined with an osteoinductive growth factor. 

Adam Shimer, MD Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery. Treatment using gene therapy for intervertebral disc degeneration.