School of Medicine
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

We were pleased to welcome Dr. Maïté Jaspers, Orthopaedic Surgeon Fellow, UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic, Ireland for her stay here in Pittsburgh. Dr. Jaspers is our inaugural exchange fellow with our partners in orthopaedic care at the UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic in Dublin, Ireland, the leading private orthopaedic hospital in Ireland.

Dr. Albert Lin wrote: "The transcontinental exchange of ideas was incredible and even this short trip has already simulated collaborative studies between our groups - Maite was incorporated into several of our studies, and we are planning to work together on several studies led by Dr. Hannan Mullett and his team in Ireland.  Maite also gave us a great talk on the last day for our faculty, fellows, and residents highlighting the work that she has been doing during her fellowship year."

Our UPMC Sports Medicine team also gave Dr. Jaspers an authentic taste of America and Pittsburgh (celebrating both July 4 and Picklesburgh during her stay).  We look forward to continuing the fellowship exchange program throughout the academic year.

Scientists can already induce the regrowth of skin, bone and other tissues. The tantalizing next step is putting them all together for the “moonshot” of limb regeneration, says Cato T. Laurencin, chief executive officer of the Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut.

See more on Pitt's School of Medicine webpage here.

We’re proud to share that the UPMC Orthopaedic Walk-In Clinic at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex has officially surpassed 2,000 patient visits since opening in late 2024. This milestone reflects the growing demand for timely, expert orthopaedic care and we’re thrilled to meet that need. June marked our busiest month to date, underscoring the value of convenient, walk-in access to musculoskeletal care for our community, when and where it’s needed most.

Our PittOrtho/UPMC Orthopaedic Care teams represented well at this year's 2025 ISAKOS Congress. Dr. Albert Lin led a scientific session and also co-chaired a Meet The Experts panel on shoulders. Dr.Volker Musahl led sessions on Newclip Technics, and moderated scientific sessions and a panel on ACL Tibial Slope. Dr. Jonathan Hughes also moderated a session, was a panel participant and gave a podium talk.  We are excited to share that two members of our Pitt Ortho and UPMC Sports Medicine family received honors at the 2025 ISAKOS Congress in Munich!

Dr. Enes Kayaalp, Sports Fellow '24, was awarded the Jan Gillquist Scientific Research Award for his outstanding research on tibial slope change over time. This award recognizes excellence in clinical science and honors the legacy of Dr. Gillquist, one of the pioneers of arthroscopic surgery.

Dr. Armin Runer, Research Fellow with Dr. Musahl, received the Albert Trillat Young Investigator’s Award for his work on meniscus suture spacing. He's also been awarded the ISAKOS John J. Joyce award for best arthroscopy paper.

The ISAKOS Congress is one of the premier international meetings for orthopaedic sports medicine, arthroscopy, and knee surgery, bringing together leading researchers and clinicians from around the globe. We’re incredibly proud to see PittOrtho and UPMC Sports Medicine represented at this level and congratulate Drs. Kayaalp and Runer on their well-deserved recognition.

Last month, we kicked off the 2025 CNX/UPMC M.O.V.E.S. (Motivation, Opportunity, Value, Experience, Success) Program with twelve students from the CNX Mentorship Academy. Students had a quick tour of UPMC Magee Women’s Hospital and met members of the teams they will be working with this summer.

Developed in 2023, CNX/UPMC M.O.V.E.S. offers hands‑on internships, externships, volunteer opportunities, job shadowing experiences, and on-site visits to 11th and 12th graders interested in exploring the world of healthcare. Throughout the program, students will gain valuable exposure across a broad range of specialties including physical therapy, oncology, OB Surgery, Imaging, Sports Medicine, Radiation Oncology, Research, and Adult Orthopaedics. Click here for information on the development and founding of CNX/UPMC M.O.V.E.S.

The program has proved successful in leading graduates to employment - last year UPMC hired four graduates after the summer internship period was over. “We are thrilled to welcome several Mentorship Academy students to UPMC,” said MaCalus V. Hogan, M.D., chair of Orthopaedic Surgery, UPMC. “We are looking forward to sharing the mentoring and career development opportunities we have to offer, and watching the students grow in careers across the spectrum of healthcare.”

We’re excited to have these future healthcare leaders on board and look forward to seeing them grow this summer!

Members of our PittOrtho and UPMC Orthopaedic Team were proud to be a part of the annual Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma (PCS) walk this year, held at the North Park Boathouse. The PCS is a 100% volunteer-led non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funding life-saving research for sarcoma in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. PCS generates funding for life-saving research and the annual walk has generated over $2 million in research funding over the last decade.

Drs. Ines Lohse and Kurt Weiss, members of our Musculoskeletal Oncology Lab, were honored to be PCS grant recipients in 2023.

We are excited to announce that registration is now open for the inaugural 2025 Orland Bethel Family Musculoskeletal Research Center Symposium (BMRC) here.

Attend panels and talks from BMRC Core Lab and Bethel Orthopaedic BioBank faculty and inaugural 2024 BMRC research fellows. 

We are also pleased to welcome Marc Schulz, PhD, co-author of The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, as our keynote speaker. Dr. Schulz is the associate director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and the Sue Kardas PhD 1971 Chair in Psychology at Bryn Mawr College. He received his BA from Amherst College and his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of California at Berkeley.

In addition to attending, research faculty, staff and students are invited to submit abstracts for the poster session. Prizes will be awarded to top posters in multiple categories. Abstract guidelines, rules and an editable template can be found on the BMRC website here.

Abstracts are due Friday, August 1.