Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a progressive and degenerative disease of the joints that causes impaired mobility and pain. It affects all joint tissues: cartilage, bone, synovium, tendons and ligaments. How these changes are orchestrated is not fully understood. We currently have no cure for osteoarthritis. At the end stage, joint replacement surgery is the main treatment option. By gaining more insight in osteoarthritis etiology, we aim to develop new treatments that can prevent the development of OA or delay the need for joint replacement surgery.

Sports & traumatic injuries

More and more patients are consulting sports physicians and orthopedic surgeons for injuries of cartilage, bone, tendon or ligaments due to trauma or sports. When these injuries are left untreated, there is a significant risk for the development of degenerative joint diseases. Our research focusses on the effectiveness of different treatment options and the development of new treatments to regenerate the damaged structures.

Skeletal growth and development

Head of Department: Prof. dr. J.A.N. Verhaar

Osteoarthritis
Basic research
Prof. dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch

Clinical research
Prof. dr. S.M.A. Bierma-Zeinstra

Prof.dr.ir. J. Harlaar
Dr. M. Reijman
Prof. dr. ir. J. Harlaar
Dr. J. Waarsing
Dr. D.E. Meuffels
Dr. J. van Oldenrijk
Dr. J. Colaris

Skeletal growth and development
Basis research
Prof. dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch
Dr. R. Narcisi

Clinical research
Prof. dr. S.M.A. Bierma-Zeinstra
Dr. M. Reijman
Prof. dr. ir. J. Harlaar
Dr. R. Agricola

Sports- and traumatic injuries
Basic research
Prof. dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch
Dr. R. Narcisi

Clinical research
Prof. dr. S.M.A. Bierma-Zeinstra
Dr. M. Reijman
Prof. dr. ir. J. Harlaar
Dr. J. Waarsing
Dr. D.E. Meuffels
Dr. J. Colaris
Dr. R.J. de Vos
Dr. T. Piscaer

Research Line "Osteoarthritis"

• Study early phases of osteoarthritis to stop progression to chronic end-stage osteoarthritis or reverse this process
• Improve the surgical and non-surgical treatment of OA
• Develop new biological treatment methods
• Develop methods for the early-stage recognition of OA

Research Line "Sport and Traumatic Injuries"

• Determine risk factors for – and the long-term consequences of – sports injuries and trauma-related injuries 
• Improve surgical and non-surgical treatment options for sport and traumatic injuries
• Improve and develop regenerative treatments for cartilage, bone and tendon/ligament injuries

Research Line "Skeletal Growth and Development"

• Unravel the etiopathogenesis of joint development and the development of deformities during growth
• Improve treatment choices for children with growth and developmental disorders

Doctoral thesis

Eijgenraam SM (2020 januari 22). The Meniscus Matters - Novel insights into imaging and treatment of meniscal pathology. Prom/coprom: Prof. S.M.A. Bierma-Zeinstra, Dr. E.H.G. Oei, Dr. M. Reijman en Dr. D.E. Meuffels https://repub.eur.nl/pub/120794

Suijkerbuijk MAM (2020 januari 8) Hamstring Tendon Regeneration Following Harvest for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Prom/coprom: Prof.dr.G.J.V.M. van Osch, Dr. D.E. Meuffels, Dr. Y.M. Bastiaansen-Jenniskens https://repub.eur.nl/pub/121752

v Oldenrijk J. (2019 mei 21) Short Incisions and Short Stems in Total Hip Arthroplasty. Prom/coprom: Prof.dr.C.N. van Dijk, dr. M.U. Schafroth, dr. R.W. Poolman https://www.orthopeden.org/downloads/654/proefschrift-jakob-van-oldenrijk.pdf?view=active

Fahmy-Garcia S.  (2019, mei 2019) Towards in situ bone tissue engineering : an injectable system for protein delivery. Prom/coprom: Prof.dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch, Prof. Dr.J.P.T.M. van Leeuwen, Dr. E. Farrell, Dr. M. van Driel https://repub.eur.nl/pub/116479

Mumcuoglu, Z. D. (2018, mei 9). Development of an injectable slow release system for  bone morphogenetic protein-2. Prom./coprom.: Prof. Dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch & S.G. Kluijtmans. https://repub.eur.nl/pub/105787

Pleumeekers, M. M.   (2018, juni 29). Face it: Cell-based therapy for the reconstruction of cartilage defects in the head and neck area. Prom./coprom.: Prof. Dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch & KS Stok. https://repub.eur.nl/pub/105992

Utomo, L.  (2018, september 18). Macrophage Phenotypes in Degenerative Joint Diseases. Prom./coprom.: Prof. Dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch, Prof. Dr. J.A.N. Verhaar & Dr. Y.M. Bastiaansen-Jenniskens. https://repub.eur.nl/pub/106448

Boersema, G.S.A. (2017, September 13). Major Abdominal Surgical Complications : Innovative Approaches. Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. J.F. Lange, Prof. Dr. G.J. Kleinrensink, Dr. Y.M. Bastiaansen-Jenniskens & Prof.Dr. J. Jeekel. - https://repub.eur.nl/pub/100857

Dorleijn, D.M.J. (2017, January 25). Hip Osteoarthritis : symptomatic presentation and non-operative treatment. Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. S.M.A. Bierma-Zeinstra, Dr. P.A.J. Luijsterburg & Dr. P.K. Bos. - https://epubs.ogc.nl/?epub=d.dorleijn%20(Metis)

Grotenhuis, N. (2017, October 11). New Models for Patient-specific Evaluation of the Effect of Biomaterials on Macrophages. Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch, Prof. Dr. J.F. Lange & Dr. Y.M. Bastiaansen-Jenniskens. - https://repub.eur.nl/pub/101852

Vos, BC de (2017, February 7). Battling Obesity : Efforts in preventing knee osteoarthritis. Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. S.M.A. Bierma-Zeinstra & Dr. J. Runhaar. - https://repub.eur.nl/pub/95488

Wei, W. (2017, October 20). Adipose tissue and the knee? : role of inflammation on joint degeneration and cartilage repair. Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. G.J.V.M. van Osch, Prof. Dr. J.A.N. Verhaar & Dr. Y.M. Bastiaansen-Jenniskens. - https://repub.eur.nl/pub/102357

Windt, A.E. van der (2017, March 29). Calcineurin Inhibition at Physiological Osmolarity: Toward improving cartilage regeneration. EUR (209 pag.) Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. Ir. H.H. Weinans & Prof. Dr. J.A.N. Verhaar. - https://repub.eur.nl/pub/98466

Kroon, L. de  (2017, October 23). A dive into TGHß signaling components during generation and degeneration of cartilage. Supervisors; van der Kraam PM, Van Osch GJVM, Narcisi R, Blaney Davidson N. - No link available

Defenses

On Wednesday 20 January 2021, Arco van der Vlist  defended his thesis entitled "Achilles tendinopathy - Risk factors, imaging and treatment". His dissertation examines, among other things, the role of Doppler flow in patients with Achilles tendinopathy. 

Upcoming defenses

On Thursday 18 February 2021 Letizia Vainieri will defend her thesis entitled "Towards cartilage regeneration: Biomaterial-assisted cell-free approach in a physiological joint-like environment".

Repairing cartilage damage in a joint is a major challenge in orthopaedics. Cartilage damage does not heal spontaneously and can lead to osteoarthritis, a chronic degenerative disease and is one of the leading causes of disability in the aging population. The main aim of the research for this thesis was to improve the quality of the repair tissue using an injectable hydrogel. In order to find better repair treatments, attention was needed to develop laboratory models to gain a better understanding of the different signals that influence cell decision-making and promote cartilage repair. First, an ideal hydrogel was selected that supported cell ingrowth and the formation of cartilage tissue. Subsequently, a laboratory model was set up in which we dynamically load the injectable hydrogel, as would happen in a joint while walking. To further mimic the environment in the joint, the gel was applied in a defect we made in the cartilage of a bovine joint obtained from the slaughterhouse. With this laboratory model, we tested hydrogels and biomolecules for their ability to promote the intrinsic repair capacity of the tissues in the body under joint-like conditions without using laboratory animals.

Please contact one of the para nymphs to receive a link (Angela Armiento angela.armiento@gmail.com or Arturo Rinaldi Artu.rinaldi@gmail.com

Niamh Fahy

Shorouk Fahmy Garcia

Pedro Diaz Payno

Michele Fenu

Mike Broeders

Erin Macri

Kavitha Sivasubramaniyan (hospitality agreement)

Basic research
Chantal Voskamp
Mauricio Ferrao Blanco
Tim Wesdorp
Maarten Leijs
Sohrab Khatab
Letizia Vainieri
Jitao Xu

Clinical research

Abigail Cohen
Annika Willems
Britt Barvelink
Michiel van Buuren
Lichelle Groot
Joost Verschueren
Mark van Outeren
Floris de Vos
Sabine van der Graaff