Congratulations to Dr. Paul E. Beaulé and his team for winning the 2018 Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award for their research identifying the origins of the hip pistol grip/CAM deformity and how it can lead to joint degeneration.
Through an extensive and coordinated multidisciplinary effort spanning over a decade, Dr. Beaulé and his team set to determine whether the cam morphology was a cause of premature cartilage degeneration as well as gaining better insights into how the bone supporting the cartilage might play a role.
“Winning the Kappa Delta award is a tremendous honor,” said Dr. Beaulé. “It shows the huge benefits and potential of collaboration with basic science researchers and other clinicians, spanning biomechanics, kinematics and medical imaging. This research is helping the development of a risk profile so that we can one day provide individuals with both surgical and physical therapy programs to avoid worsening of hip pain and loss of motion and keep their hip healthy.”
“One of the next phases of our research is to better understand what types of activities are at higher risk of developing the cam morphology,” said Dr. Beaulé. “We also need to look at exercise programs that truly affect how the hip moves and how it may affect the arthritic process. Lastly, we need to develop the biomarkers, so we can have early detection before arthritic hip pain and cartilage damage begin, and intervene sooner.”
