As a world leader in musculoskeletal medicine, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is committed to pioneering research aimed at developing personalized treatment strategies for patients affected by some of the most pressing clinical problems in the fields of orthopedics and rheumatology. Established in response to the great promise of precision medicine, the HSS Precision Medicine Laboratory enables the study of disease mechanisms, surgical outcomes, and responses to therapy in specific patient populations. By catalyzing the formation of multidisciplinary teams to study musculoskeletal disorders using integrative and cutting-edge approaches, the Laboratory aspires to achieve the goal of precision medicine: to target the right treatments to the right patients at the right time.
With The Ambrose Monell Foundation’s extraordinary partnership, HSS Precision Medicine Laboratory Co-Director Dr. Miguel Otero is working with teams of scientists, clinicians, and orthopedic surgeons to better understand and treat osteoarthritis (OA), a leading global cause of pain and disability. Despite its high prevalence, treatment options for the disease are limited and often ineffective. Research being enabled by the HSS Precision Medicine Lab has classified four distinct OA patient subtypes, findings that could pave the way to identify those who are more likely to respond to different treatments. A major current line of investigation is focused on understanding the molecular basis of the joint pain experienced by OA patients to guide the development of pain-relieving strategies. Non-surgical regenerative methods to treat OA are also being explored, including a study that is evaluating the efficacy of bone marrow aspirate in modifying post-traumatic OA after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
The Ambrose Monell Foundation’s support has also been critical to advancing research on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) being enabled by the HSS Precision Medicine Laboratory under the leadership of Co-Director Dr. Laura Donlin. Despite advances in therapies, up to 30% of RA patients live with uncontrolled disease that causes joint inflammation and pain and ultimately leads to joint destruction. Dr. Donlin, along with a large team of HSS physicians and scientists, and the NIH-Sponsored Accelerating Medicines Partnership, found that RA patients who do not have the classical inflammatory features in their joint tissue activate pain pathways by communication between non-immune cells called fibroblasts and nerve cells. Dr. Donlin and her collaborators also have defined cell types that dominate inflamed joint tissues in distinct subsets of RA patients, suggesting specific medications that may work best in individual patients. This work holds extraordinary potential to chart a new course of treatment for the significant number of RA patients who are less likely to respond to many of the first- and second-line therapies, and for personalized medicine.
“The advances we have made in achieving a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms and individual patient variation in highly complex musculoskeletal diseases would not have been possible without The Ambrose Monell Foundation’s exceptional ongoing support of the HSS Precision Medicine Laboratory,” reflected Dr. Lionel Ivashkiv, HSS Chief Scientific Officer. “We are deeply grateful for the Foundation’s partnership and shared commitment to building a better future for patients worldwide.”
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