In partnership with the Duke Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the Adult Reconstruction Division is now accepting applications for the Aaron Hofmann Family Fund for Resident Research Grant in Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.
Created in 2018 in honor of Michael Bolognesi, MD, the endowed fund provides educational and research support for medical residents in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in perpetuity. To date, Dr. Hofmann has increased the total amount of the fund to over $1,000,000. We are incredibly thankful for Dr. Hofmann’s generosity and support of our department and his commitment to the education and advancement of our residents.
Previous Award Winners:
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2023- Dr. Niall Cochrane: Does Femoral Design Affect Load to Failure in Total Hip Arthroplasty?
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2022- Dr. Daniel Goltz: Machine Learning for Orthopaedics- Creation of a Comprehensive Surgical Prediction, Performance and Scheduling Suite
About Aaron Hofmann, MD
Dr. Hofmann was a Professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, where he worked for 30 years. He served as Chief of Orthopaedics at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Salt Lake City for 29 years. He holds 19 patents on orthopaedic devices and is a surgeon designer for hip and knee prosthesis systems.
After retiring from the University, Dr. Hofmann opened the Hofmann Arthritis Institute, where he continues to train fellows. He founded and oversaw Operation Walk Utah, a non-profit volunteer medical service organization providing hip and knee replacements to people in developing countries.
Dr. Hofmann has trained and mentored five Duke trainees through their fellowships (Drs. Michael Bolognesi, Jeff Hodrick, Shawn Hocker, Jordan Schaeffer, Dan Mangiapani, and Mike Morwood – beginning in the summer of 2018). In addition, two residents (Drs. Ben Hansen and Rhett Hallows) trained under Dr. Hofmann at the University and completed their fellowships with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke.
Over the past years, the relationship between Duke residents and Dr. Hofmann has grown. The training of his past fellows from the Duke program and the lasting friendships he has made led the family to donate and create this fund.
“I cannot thank Aaron enough for this gift to Duke and, even more importantly, for the support and mentorship he has afforded me over the last 15 years, said Dr. Bolognesi. My year in Utah as a Fellow helped inspire me to pursue a career in academic orthopaedics, but his influence on my career did not stop there…in fact, it has never stopped. It is amazing to have someone make a gift of this size to a program they did not train at or work for!”
Duke Orthopaedics is deeply grateful for the Hofmann family’s generosity, their investment in the future leaders of Orthopaedic surgery, and this extraordinary tribute to Dr. Bolognesi.
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The Aaron Hofmann Family Fund for Resident Research Grant in Hip and Knee Arthroplasty is for $25,000 and will be awarded to an orthopaedic resident physician with the best proposal. Funding is intended to cover the lifetime of the project. The grant is for the budget for the fiscal year – July 1, 2024–July 1, 2025.
Grant Description/Eligibility
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Provides funding to residents who are interested in hip and knee arthroplasty research.
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Covers research expenses and travel, but not salary.
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Work should be achievable by the resident as a free-standing project, even if it is a part of more extensive work.
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Both laboratory and clinical projects (e.g., outcome studies) are suitable, but clinical relevance must be explicitly described.
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The resident will submit a competitive research proposal and will develop a relationship with a mentor who has research experience and mentors others in arthroplasty research.
Who May Apply
• The applicant (PI) must be an orthopaedic surgery resident in the Duke Orthopaedic Residency Training Program.
• Orthopaedic topics focusing on hip and knee arthroplasty will be considered.
Proposal Outline
• Three pages maximum
• Require Specific Aims (1-3)
• Proposed Budget
The deadline for submission is March 29, 2024. Proposals should be submitted to Michael Bolognesi, MD, Sean Ryan, MD, and Thorsten Seyler, MD.