YWIB-Metro New York: Inside Orthopedic Innovation – HSS Career Panel & Lab Experience

On April 29, select high school students from New Jersey and New York had the opportunity to take an intimate lab tour of the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Department of Biomechanics in Manhattan. Since the 1970s, the lab has housed approximately 30,000 implants, which they have been studying to understand why certain orthopedic devices work while others fail in patients following joint replacements. As part of the Young Women In Bio Metro New York’s Women In Medicine program, WIB-Metro New York member Aarti Shenoy, an instructor scientist with the hospital, led them through the Biomechanics department labs, including the device development office, the retrieval lab, and the mechanical testing room.

In addition to a site tour, the students also had the opportunity to meet with several medical researchers and scientists who shared their career journeys in biomechanics. Experts also included Carl Imhauser, Isabella Gomez Hjerthen, Joseph Lipman, Ritvik Sarkar, Kathleen Meyers, Grace Krebs, Sara Sacher, and Vincent Sise. Speakers reinforced, especially in orthopedics, that a surgeon's experience is critical to how well the implant will function. Others described the importance of understanding why the cartridge breaks down and the role it plays in our bodies, and how continued research on additional parts of the body, including the patella, and on failed implants can help doctors better determine how to improve the range of motion in patients.

Submitted by Dawn Fallon