Dr. Adele Boskey 2010 Recipient of ORS/AOA Award for Lifetime Contributions to Orthopaedics

New York—March 8, 2010

Phto of Adele L. Boskey, PhD.Biomineralization and osteoporosis investigator Adele L. Boskey, Ph.D., the Starr Chair in Mineralized Tissue Research at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, has been selected the 2010 recipient of the Orthopaedic Research Society/American Orthopaedic Association Alfred R. Shands, Jr. Award.  The award will be presented to Dr. Boskey on Monday, March 8, at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society in New Orleans.

The award is given annually by the Alfred R. Shands, Jr. Award Committee in recognition of contributions to orthopaedics and the devotion of a significant portion of a professional lifetime to furthering knowledge in the field of musculoskeletal disease.

“I can’t think of a more deserving recipient,” said Regis J. O’Keefe, M.D., Ph.D., president of the Orthopaedic Research Society.  “I am pleased and honored to have a part in this recognition of Dr. Boskey’s distinguished work,” Dr. O’Keefe continued.

Dr. Boskey is director of the Mineralized Tissue Laboratory and the program director of the Musculoskeletal Integrity Program at Hospital for Special Surgery. Additionally, as the first female president of the Orthopaedic Research Society, her mentoring of other women researchers was recognized in 2008 with an award from the Orthopaedic Research Society Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF).

Dr. Boskey’s research focuses on bone quality, a measurement of both the bone matrix and the mineral of bone. The current measure relied on to identify osteoporosis and its possibility of fractures is bone density, but Dr. Boskey believes that measuring bone quality promises greater accuracy and could significantly decrease the number of patients that are at high risk for fracture because the quality, not quantity, of their bones puts them in danger.

To better define bone quality, Dr. Boskey has repurposed the use of infrared spectroscopy to approach the quality of bone when biopsies are available. Her laboratory, the Musculoskeletal Repair and Regeneration Core Center at Hospital for Special Surgery, which is one of only five national core centers funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, is using this to understand how mineral size and content are tied into osteoporosis and fracture risk.

“Biology will become more important in the study and treatment of orthopaedic disease in the future,” predicts Dr. Boskey. In the case of arthroscopy she stated, “I foresee less of an emphasis on metals and devices and more on understanding the biology that leads to the need for a total joint or revision.”

Osteoporosis is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures annually, a number Dr. Boskey hopes to decrease through her research into a deeper understanding of the biology and makeup of the bone itself and her analyses of the effects of different commonly used osteoporotic therapeutics on the quality of bone.

 

About HSS | Hospital for Special Surgery
HSS is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics for 14 years in a row and No. 2 in rheumatology by U.S.News & World Report (2023-2024). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has one of the lowest infection rates in the country and was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center four consecutive times. The global standard total knee replacement was developed at HSS in 1969. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State. In addition, HSS opened a new facility in Florida in early 2020. In 2019, HSS provided care to 151,000 patients and performed more than 35,000 surgical procedures, and people from all 50 U.S. states and 89 countries travelled to receive care at HSS. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 translational research laboratories, 33 scientists, 10 clinician-scientists, 55 clinical investigators and 245 scientific support staff that drive the HSS research enterprise in the musculoskeletal “ecosystem,” neurology, pain management and rheumatic diseases. The HSS Innovation Institute was formed in 2016 to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is the world’s leading provider of education on musculoskeletal health, with its online learning platform offering more than 300 courses to more than 30,000 medical professional members worldwide. Through HSS Global Ventures, the institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally.

 

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