Scientific Founders

Dr. Martha Murray
Dr. Murray's research focuses on stimulating healing of intra-articular tissues (tissues found inside the joint), particularly the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus. Treatment of these injuries is one of the most challenging problems in the orthopaedic arena today. These tissues have minimal intrinsic ability to repair or regenerate, and are traditionally treated by excision of the injured tissue and replacement with self (autograft) or donor tissue (allograft). Although successful, these procedures have a higher occurrence of premature knee osteoarthritis and consequently have a substantial impact on the patient’s lifestyle.

Dr. Murray's laboratory at Children’s Hospital Boston researches the regenerative potential of intra-articular tissues after injury. They have found that the cells in each of these tissues have great potential for the processes required for healing; proliferation, migration and extra-cellular matrix production, if provided with the appropriate environment. The Murray laboratory has identified that intra-articular tissues fail to heal because the fibrin clot produced immediately post injury from the bleeding tissue is not sustained in the joint. The fibrin clot is critical in bridging the torn ends of the tissue and is an essential biological component of the healing cascade. Enzymes present within the synovial fluid degrade the fibrin clot before healing can be initiated. Work continues to focus on development of a substitute material for the fibrin clot, allowing intra-articular tissues to heal in the same manner as their extra-articular counterparts.

Dr. Murray is also an orthopeadic surgeon at Children’s Hospital Boston and an assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. She received her master's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University and her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School and fellowships in pediatric orthopedics and sports medicine at Children's Hospital Boston. For more information, please visit http://www.childrenshospital.org/cfapps/research/
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Dr. Kurt Spindler
Dr. Kurt Spindler completed medical school and an orthopaedic residency, including one year of basic research training, at the University of Pennsylvania. He then completed a one-year orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 1991. He is currently Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical School, Director of the Vanderbilt Sports Medicine Center and the Orthopaedic Patient Care Center, and serves as Head Team Physician for Vanderbilt University’s NCAA Division I varsity athletes. His clinical expertise includes the evaluation and treatment of all sports medicine injuries, especially arthroscopic knee and shoulder reconstruction.

His active basic science research focuses on the difference between extra-articular (Medial Collateral Ligament) and intra-articular (ACL) ligament healing and the role of regenerative medicine to modulate repair. His practice and clinical research includes prospective long-term follow-up of ACL reconstructions, he initiated the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network (MOON) in 2001, and he is the Principal Investigator for this NIH-funded multicenter study. For more information, please visit http://www.vanderbilthealth.com/main/findadoc?name=spindler
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