Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Riyaz Jinnah, MD, FRCS is the Director of Research in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Under the direction of Dr. Jinnah, orthopaedic research is coordinated by Beth Paterson Smith, PhD, and is facilitated by members of the research staff, research faculty, and Research Advisory Panel. Research within the department is divided into three main areas: 1) clinical retrospective/prospective studies, 2) biomedical engineering/tissue engineering, and 3) basic research. Dr. Smith supervises and directs the day-to-day operations of the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory by assisting faculty members and residents in planning and completing grant applications, developing experimental protocols and research models to address research questions, organizing data collection strategies, and providing appropriate statistical analysis. Personnel (residents, medical students, and graduate students) involved in various research areas work under the direction of the various orthopaedic faculty members with Dr. Smith serving as a facilitator to expedite the completion of the various research initiatives.
Research Faculty
Michael Callahan, PhD: Dr. Callahan’s primary research interests are nerve/muscle function and skeletal muscle blood flow in aging and NIDDM. Ongoing research projects include effects of various botulinum toxins on muscle function and molecular expression of nerve/muscle related proteins. Other projects include exercise capacity and strength in aged animals receiving statin and PPAR agonists. He has extensive experience in experimental surgical techniques and development of novel rodent models. He serves as a basic science mentor to residents and assists faculty with the development of basic science protocols. Dr. Callahan is responsible for the Microsurgery Course for Hand Fellows and Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery Residents. He also directs the Mouse and Rat Surgery Course that has trained over 150 scientists in rodent surgical techniques.
Thomas L. Smith, PhD: Dr. Smith serves as a basic science mentor to the residents in translational studies in Orthopaedic Surgery. He provides advice on experimental design, execution and interpretation of results, as well as selection of experimental model to address the scientific hypotheses the residents and fellows wish to address. In addition, he serves as a liaison with other scientists and departments within the university to facilitate and fulfill the resident and fellows’ research goals. Dr. Smith also offers instruction in microsurgical techniques and experimental animal surgery. He has broad experiences in survival surgery techniques in rodents, rabbits, and dogs and can assist the resident and fellows in development of these surgical skills. Special expertise in nerve/muscle physiology, and control of the circulation of the hands and feet also is available.
Martin L. Tanaka, PhD: Dr. Tanaka is a biomedical engineer specializing in the field of human movement. His research interests include orthopaedic biomechanics, biodynamic systems and stability analysis, mathematical modeling of nonlinear dynamic systems, and spinal instability associated with low back pain. He serves as the director of the Human Performance and Biodynamics Laboratory on behalf of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. This 2000+ sq. ft. facility contains state of the art equipment needed to pioneer the future of orthopaedics. Some of our equipment includes: a ten camera digital motion capture system to measure the movement of individual body segments during various activities, force plates to calculate joint torques, electromyography equipment (EMG) used to measure muscle activation during movement, and an IREX virtual reality training system. The focus of this laboratory is to conduct research to help evaluate the outcomes of surgical procedures, assess the performance of orthopaedic implants, understand human movement and balance, measure athletic capability, and to help train students.