The healthy joint seamlessly integrates the mechanical and biological functions of multiple tissues, including cartilage, bone, synovium, nerve, vasculature, and others, to support smooth, pain-free movement. Surprisingly little is known about the mechanisms that support this integration, or the mechanisms that disrupt it in joint disease. Understanding these mechanisms is central to maintaining joint health and treating joint disease, the leading cause of disability in the United States. Joint diseases such a osteoarthritis, osteonecrosis, juvenile arthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis disable individuals across the lifespan affecting over 46 million Americans, including more than half of the population over 65. While advances in the study of individual joint tissues have shed light on the mechanisms of joint disease, more research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which these tissues interact, and the local and systemic factors responsible for this crosstalk. Therefore, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) selected Tackling Joint Disease by Understanding Crosstalk between Cartilage and Bone as the topic for the 2016 AAOS Research Symposium. The exceptional burden of joint disease motivates a focused, interdisciplinary symposium designed to advance the development of better clinical solutions. This symposium takes an innovative approach to overcome the boundaries in disciplinary or scientific expertise that limit progress in understanding the integration of individual tissues in he joint. The primary objective of the symposium is to engage clinicians, engineers, and biologists to share emerging concepts from each discipline on crosstalk among bone, cartilage, systemic factors, and other tissues in joint health and disease across the lifespan. The structure of the meeting supports this goal, with a single-platform format that allows the entire group to consider together and discuss seven topics that were selected to highlight advances from individual fields within the context of joint crosstalk. All sessions at this 2.5-day meeting feature invited presentations by scientific leaders and pioneering junior investigators who are applying new ideas and approaches to understand joint function. Each session includes a 30 minute structured discussion to identify the leading edge of the field, determine gaps in knowledge, and establish new research priorities. Fifteen New Investigator Awards support the engagement of diverse early stage investigators as oral or poster presenters. In addition to publishing the proceedings of the symposium, outcomes include workshops at annual meetings of musculoskeletal research societies, a webinar, and inclusion of updated research priorities in the AAOS Unified Orthopaedic Research Agenda, which communicates musculoskeletal research needs to funding agencies, Congress, and the public. Given the urgent demand for improved clinical solutions, and the recent advances in bone and cartilage research, this symposium will stimulate the dialogue to accelerate research on crosstalk among tissues in the joint, to understand and ultimately treat degenerative joint disease.
Joint disease, specifically arthritis in its various forms, is the leading cause of disability in the United States; over 46 million Americans are affected annually, adversely impacting health, productivity, and quality of life. Arthritis causes the progressive breakdown of joint tissues that normally allow smooth, pain-free movement. Despite advances in the biological understanding of bone and cartilage independently, comparatively little is known about the crosstalk among joint tissues that instigates joint disease. The 2016 AAOS/ORS Tackling Joint Disease by Understanding Crosstalk between Cartilage and Bone Research Symposium provides a unique forum for experts on bone, cartilage, and other tissues to consider the integrated biological and mechanical function of tissues across the lifespan in healthy joints and in joint disease.
