Spine researchers take
unprecedented sweep of top awards
Four of the nation's most prestigious honors for research and treatment
of spinal disorders recently were awarded to faculty of The Emory Spine
Center.
"Never has any single section at any institution come up with the four
top awards," said Lamar Fleming, chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics
at the medical school. "This is especially meaningful because it acknowledges
the interrelatedness of Emory's approach to complex spinal disorders, an
approach that involves orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, rehabilitation
medicine specialists, psychiatrists and anesthesiologists specializing in
pain management."
The Leon Wiltz Award of the North American Spine Society went to Thomas
E. Whitesides, professor of orthopaedic surgery, at the society's annual
fall meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. The career award recognizes
Whitesides' significant lifetime contributions to the body of knowledge
concerned with the spine. Known as a back surgeon for whom "no case
is too complicated," Whitesides has pioneered a number of unique approaches
to spine surgery during more than 30 years at Emory.
The technique he developed in the 1960s to surgically access the spine through
the chest rather than the back became an international standard, and his
unusual means of accessing the upper cervical spine via the lateral neck,
as opposed to the mouth, greatly reduced complication rates. Most recently,
Whitesides has researched the negative effect of nicotine use on spinal
fusion.
The Harry Farina Award of the North American Spine Society went to William
C. Hutton, director of research for the Department of Orthopaedics. This
basic science career award acknowledges Hutton's decades-long devotion to
spine research at the most basic, molecular and mechanical levels. He has
applied his training in biomechanical engineering to a variety of problems
involving the function and dysfunction of cervical and spinal vertebrae.
He has used computer simulation to extensively investigate the lifting techniques
that least compromise the back, the abnormal movements of patients with
back pain and the effect of twisting on the spine. One of his findings,
for instance, refuted the popular belief that the back is injured when the
body twists while bending forward. He found that the body cannot twist when
bent forward because vertebral elements lock up.
The year's Most Outstanding Scientific Paper on Spine Research, according
to the North American Spine Society, was authored by Scott Boden, director
of The Emory Spine Center and assistant professor of orthopaedics; Michael
Marone, an Emory neurosurgery resident; and Peter Moskovits, a physician-researcher
at George Washington University. The paper is titled "A New Minimally
Invasive Fusion Technique: Traditional Spine Fusion Through Portal Approach
Using Growth Factors."
The 1996 Research Grant Award from the North American Spine Society went
to Boden and Marone, who are investigating genetic manipulation of the spinal
fusion process. They are particularly interested in how the genes of bone
cells express themselves through their protein products. The researchers
hope to apply molecular biologic methods such as gene therapy to create
new bone or regenerate diseased discs.
-Lorri Preston
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