Research

One of the fundamental missions of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, Irvine is the advancement of musculoskeletal medicine and healthcare. It is this critical mission that helps to define our orthopaedic department. Towards this end, we have five full time research laboratories at multiple locations within the University of California, Irvine including the Irvine main campus, UC Irvine Medical Center, and the Long Beach VA Medical Center.

Currently there are eight active grants, totaling $3,043,227 in extramural funding.
The department was also among the top 50 US departments of orthopaedic surgery in terms of NIH funding. In 2006 alone, two of our core faculty members won two of the major research awards in musculoskeletal medicine, i.e. the Neer award for the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (Dr. Thay Lee) and the Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (Dr. Ranjan Gupta).

The following are the current areas of research excellence in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Bone Biomechanics Laboratory
The laboratory focuses on developing new surgical techniques and treatment modalities for patients with metastases in bone and is developing new tools for identifying patients at risk of osteoporotic or pathologic hip fracture.

Musculoskeletal Oncology Laboratory (P.I.: Bang H. Hoang, M.D.)
Dr. Hoang’s laboratory focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of bone and soft tissue sarcomas with an emphasis on modulating various signaling pathways to decrease tumor growth and metastasis.

Neuromuscular Research Laboratory (P.I.: Vince J. Caiozzo, Ph.D.)
Dr. Caiozzo’s laboratory focuses on muscle physiology and mechanics, especially in regard to space exploration and orthopedics.

Orthopaedic Biomechanics Research Laboratory (P.I.: Thay Q Lee, Ph.D. )
Dr. Lee’s laboratory focuses orthopaedic applied biomechanics research with an emphasis on shoulder and knee as related to sports injuries and joint replacement.

Peripheral Nerve Research Laboratory ( P.I.: Ranjan Gupta, M.D.)
Dr. Gupta’s laboratory focuses on the Schwann cell control of neural injury with an emphasis on understanding the molecular pathogenesis of chronic nerve injuries, improving treatments for spinal cord injury, and exploring the role of neural injury with rotator cuff injuries.