The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) and the Arthritis Foundation (AF) recently announced the recipients of the first-ever AF/AOFAS Ankle Arthritis Think Tank Research Grants to help further our understanding and improve our ability to treat ankle osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis affects more than 30 million Americans, and when it develops in the ankle, it can make every step uncomfortable or downright painful. Last month, the Arthritis Foundation and the AOFAS awarded three grants, each totaling nearly $200,000 over a two-year period, to three AOFAS-related research groups that are dedicated to furthering ankle osteoarthritis research.
“This award represents a major step forward for our collaborative effort to understand the unique nature of ankle arthritis. Findings could lead to novel preventative measures and targeted treatments,” said Kenneth J. Hunt, MD, at the University of Colorado Denver, one of the recipients of the award. “We are grateful to the Arthritis Foundation and AOFAS for supporting this work.”
Who Received The Grants?
The 2023 AF/AOFAS Ankle Arthritis Think Tank grants were awarded to:
- Determining the Traumatic Origins of Ankle OA and the Time to Joint Degeneration:
Donald D. Anderson, PhD, University of Iowa, and Cesar de Cesar Netto, MD, PhD, Duke University
- The Impact of Bone Quality and Histopathology in Ankle Osteoarthritis:
Constantine A. Demetracopoulos, MD, and Jensen K. Henry, MD, Hospital for Special Surgery
- Defining the Unique Synovial Transcriptome and Proteome of Ankle Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis:
Kenneth J. Hunt, MD, and Michael Zuscik, PhD, University of Colorado Denver
Dr. Demetracopoulos said that the grant will allow his research team to continue improving their understanding of how to best treat different stages of ankle osteoarthritis.
“Our hope is that our research will lead to better treatment options for patients early on in the disease and improved decision-making and outcomes in our surgical interventions for patients with end-stage ankle arthritis,” he said.
Dr. Anderson, the final recipient of the award, said his team hopes to learn more about osteoarthritis onset based on individual trauma to the area.
“This award means so much to our research team,” said Donald D. Anderson, PhD, from the University of Iowa. “We are establishing a multi-site clinical study group to retrospectively investigate how ankle osteoarthritis develops after different injuries. Our vision is to also position this group to study new interventions as they emerge.”
To see the full grant summaries or to learn more about the AF/AOFAS Ankle Arthritis Think Tank Research Grants, visit https://aofas.org/arthritisgrants.
Dr. Silverman has attended countless AOFAS events and has seen firsthand much they value high quality research and the ability to share these findings with others to help the public. It’s wonderful to see these grants go to teams who will only help us better understand why ankle osteoarthritis develops and how to best treat it.