OREF Highlights 
A major emphasis for OREF's role in orthopaedics was to identify and encourage promising young researchers who might have an impact on the future of the specialty. To achieve that, the Board of Trustees began funding awards specifically for orthopaedic residents. The first Resident Research Awards totaled $8,000. Two recipients, who studied pathology, each received $3,000, and another recipient received $2,000 to research biochemistry. Since then, the need for financial support for residents has grown, and encouraging young researchers has become a major part of OREF's mission. OREF now funds 10 to 12 Resident Research Awards in the amount of $15,000 each year, although annually we receive two to three times that number of viable applications. To truly fulfill the potential of OREF Resident Research Awards, OREF could easily award 25 to 30 such grants, and should do so at levels up to $25,000 per year due to increased costs. Since 1961, OREF has funded 265 Resident Research Awards totaling $3.4 million. Of those, 125 recipients went on to receive other OREF grants. Topics have included investigations of how external devices aid in healing hip fractures, studies of how musculoskeletal tissue is healed and repaired, and the role intracellular calcium plays in forming mineralized cartilage and signaling cell function when stimulated by hormones and growth factors. A named, permanently funded Resident Research Award at $25,000 per year can be established for $500,000. RETURN TO OREF HIGHLIGHTS |
