Departmental Research Day

2023 Poster Award Recipients

“Ultracongruent polyethylene liner does not affect survival of total knee arthroplasty for moderate valgus deformity.” 
-Niall Cochrane, MD, PGY-4 Resident

“Does Medically Supervised Weight Loss Prior to Total Knee Arthroplasty Decrease Adverse Outcomes and Improve Patient-Reported Outcomes?”
-Albert Rechenmacher, BS, MD Student

“Uncovering role of CX3CR1+ cells in fracture healing and aging.”
-Koji Ishikawa, MD, PhD

“Co-expression of Matrix Metalloproteinases and Leukocyte Cytosolic Protein 1 is Integral for the Metastasis of Chondrosarcoma.”
-Alexandra Krez, BA, MD Student

“Full Weight-Bearing after Dual-Fixation of Clavicle Fracture Appears Safe and Effective: A Multi-Center Comparative Study.”
-Jack Twomey-Kozak, MD Student

 “Blood-induced Meniscus Catabolism: Investigating the Role of Iron and Anti-oxidant Therapeutics.”
-Kevin Betsch, BS

 “The Systematic Relationship between the Spleen and CD4+ Cells.”
-Hansel Heres

“Disparities in 90-day Emergency Department Returns Following Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery.”
-Tristan Chari, BA, MD Student

2023 Podium Award Recipients

“From Baseball To Bones: Bringing Predictive Analytics To Hip, Knee, and Shoulder Arthroplasty.”
-Daniel Goltz, MD, MBA

“The Effect of Early Saline Lavage on Synovial Fluid Composition During the Acute Phase of Human Intra-Articular Ankle Fracture.” 
-Keith Whitlock, MD 

“Early Aseptic Reoperation Following Shoulder Arthroplasty Increases Risk of Subsequent Prosthetic Joint Infection.”
-John Wickman, MD, MBA

2024 30th Annual J. Leonard Goldner, MD Visiting Professor
Todd O. McKinley, MD

Dr. McKinley attended medical school with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronaut/Aerospace Engineering Technology from the University of Minnesota. He completed a two-week rotation in orthopaedic surgery during his senior year of medical school at the University of Minnesota, and the experience rooted him in the subspecialty.

Following his residency, he did two orthopaedic fellowships – the first was a research fellowship, the second a trauma fellowship. He was a faculty member at the University of Iowa for 13 years.

Years later, a job offer brought him to Indiana University School of Medicine, where he now serves as a professor of orthopaedic surgery.

Helping mold young medical minds is rewarding, especially seeing how residents and fellows mature emotionally and academically over time. He hopes his students learn from him how important it is to get to know their patients, understand them on all levels, and not see them as clinical cases.

McKinley's clinical interests include polytrauma, pelvic and acetabular surgery, infection, and young-adult hip deformity. He has performed more than 400 periacetabular osteotomies.

He has been the principal investigator on six peer-reviewed grants, including three major grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense. He was appointed chairman of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association Research Committee and is a member of the Orthopaedic Research Society.

The J. Leonard Goldner Visiting Professorship is sponsored by the Sequoia Foundation Family Endowment of J. Ollie Edmunds, Jr., MD. Doctor Edmunds completed orthopaedic surgery residency at Duke in 1975, followed by Hand and Microvascular Surgery at Duke under the supervision of J. Leonard Goldner, MD in 1976. Doctor Edmunds is Professor Emeritus at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA.

Past J. Leonard Goldner Visiting Professors

1. 1993 Clement B. Sledge, MD
2. 1994 Roby C. Thompson, Jr., MD
3. 1995 G. Paul DeRosa, MD
4. 1996 Andrew J. Weiland, MD
5. 1997 James H. Herndon, MD
6. 1998 Lamar L. Fleming, MD
7. 1999 Cecil H. Rorabeck, MD
8. 2000 Stuart L. Weinstein, MD
9. 2001 Kenneth E. DeHaven, MD
10. 2002 Panayotis N. Soucacos, MD, FACS
11. 2003 Richard H. Gelberman, MD
12. 2004 James H. Beaty, MD
13. 2005 John P. Kostuik, MD
14. 2006 Peter J. Stern, MD
15. 2007 Roger A. Mann, MD
16. 2008 William J.F. Maloney, III, MD
17. 2009 James R. Andrews, MD
18. 2010 Robert B. Anderson, MD
19. 2011 Evan L. Flatow, MD
20. 2012 John J. Callaghan, MD
21. 2013 Pau Golano Alvarez, MD
22. 2014 Steven R. Garfin, MD
23. 2015 Jay R. Lieberman, MD
24. 2016 David G. Little, MBBS, FRACS, (ORTH), PhD
25. 2017 Lori A. Karol, MD
26. 2018 Mohit Bhandari, MD, PHD, FRCSC
27. 2019 Leesa M. Galatz, MD
28. 2022 Joshua J. Jacobs, MD
29. 2023 William Levine, MD

*2020 & 2021 Cancelled due to Covid 

J. LEONARD GOLDNER, MD
Chief Emeritus of Duke Orthopaedic Surgery, 1967-1985

November 19, 1918 – December 20, 2005

A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Dr. J. Leonard Goldner received a B.A. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1939 and B.S. and MD degrees from the University of Nebraska in 1943.  He served as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific during World War II.

He received his orthopaedic residency training at Duke University from 1946 – 1950 and subsequently he joined the Duke Orthopaedic Surgery staff.  Dr. Goldner served as Chief of that Division from 1967 through 1984 and was awarded the distinguished James B. Duke Professorship in 1979.  He retired formally from surgery in 1988 but continued to teach and attend orthopaedic conferences and clinics until two months prior to his death.

Dr. Goldner had the unique distinction of serving as President of both the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society.  He was President of the American Orthopaedic Association, the Southern Medical Association and the North Carolina Orthopaedic Association.

In 1981, Dr. Goldner received the Distinguished Civilian Service Award by the Secretary of the Army and in 2004, he was awarded the American Orthopaedic Association-Smith & Nephew Distinguished Clinician Educator Award which “acknowledges hard work and dedication to the Orthopaedic Community.”

Dr. Goldner was a self-disciplinarian, dedicated teacher, tireless surgeon, respected leader and above all, a humanitarian.  He was unparalleled as a teacher and defined the Socratic Method and as a result all of those who trained under him became better teachers.  His attitude was confident, positive and optimistic and it carried over to all of his trainees.  As a mentor, his enthusiasm was infectious and he stimulated his trainees and faculty to higher accomplishments than they ever thought were possible. 

A magnificent giant has fallen and there will never be another one to match him, however whether family member, friend, colleague or student, his sound principles will carry us for decades to come.

2024 Branch Visiting Professor
Richard (Rick) L. Lieber, PhD

Richard L. Lieber, PhD, oversees all research endeavors throughout the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab care system. He joined the organization (then the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, or RIC) in March 2014, bringing an extensive research focus on the science and physiology of skeletal muscle. Dr. Lieber is an established expert in the field, both nationally and internationally, and is a pioneer in conducting translational research — primarily in patients with spinal cord injury and children with cerebral palsy.

Dr. Lieber and Chief Medical Officer James Sliwa, DO, are responsible for implementing the “Research Accelerator Program” — a novel translational approach embedded in the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab medical and research enterprise- and demonstrating its tangible and cultural progress. To date, Drs. Lieber and Sliwa have enabled translational research with scientists and nearly 200 non-research staff across the hospital.

Dr. Lieber also led the design of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Biologics Lab, in which studies of living human cells, tissues, and fluids solve human problems, particularly in rehabilitation and recovery. The lab’s state-of-the-art equipment allows scientists to monitor living cells as they test various types. Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Biologics Lab is the only one in the world placed in a rehabilitation setting and brings together biologists, physiologists, stem-cell biologists, and molecular biologists — all sharing ideas and expertise and speeding discoveries.

As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Lieber oversees the work of more than 200 researchers. Under his leadership, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab has more than 150 research studies and clinical trials underway, all of which will benefit its patient populations. The grant portfolio managed by Dr. Lieber comprises more than $152 million. It spans major agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.

Dr. Lieber’s specific area of expertise is studying the design and plasticity of skeletal muscle. Currently, he is developing state-of-the-art technical and biological approaches to understanding and solving painful and debilitating muscle contractures that result from cerebral palsy, stroke, and spinal cord injury.

He has published more than 350 articles in scientific journals, from the more fundamental journals such as Biophysical Journal and the Journal of Cell Biology to the more applied-science publications such as the Journal of Hand Surgery, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, and Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Throughout his career, Dr. Lieber has won numerous prestigious awards, among them Paul B. Magnuson Award from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for Outstanding Achievement in Rehabilitation Research and Development, 2023; Elsass Foundation Research Prize in Cerebral Palsy, 2023; Fellow, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2019; Kappa Delta Award, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2013; Giovanni Borelli Award, American Society of Biomechanics, 2007; The Göteborg University Medal, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 2007; Fulbright Scholarship (Sweden), 2007; and Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 1994.

The National Institutes of Health have supported Dr. Lieber’s laboratory in investigator-initiated and center grants for over 40 years. He is a Senior Research Career Scientist in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, receiving support from the Rehabilitation Engineering Research and Development service. He is also a Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Biomedical Engineering, and Neuroscience at Northwestern University.

Prior to joining Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Dr. Lieber was Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and Principal Investigator of the San Diego Skeletal Muscle Research Center — an NIH-funded center designed to leverage muscle expertise on behalf of patients in the San Diego community. He earned his doctorate in Biophysics, with a minor in Electrical Engineering, from the University of California, Davis, where he also earned a BS in Physiology. He earned his MBA from the Rady School of Management at UCSD.