Tissue Engineering

The ability to replace or “transplant” bone and cartilage can dramatically improve the quality of life for people with joint injury resulting from trauma, disease, or overuse.

The only one of its kind in Western Canada, Calgary’s Joint Transplantation Program was inspired by the vision and dedication of Drs. Norm Schachar, Scott Timmermann, and Carol Hutchison. Members of the MIBJH with expertise spanning both medicine and bioengineering, they have pioneered a unique program that is providing biological treatment options for patients with joint injury who are not suitable candidates for artificial joint replacements.

“Many people with joint injuries are unable to undergo artificial joint replacements because they are still too young and active,” says Schachar, Professor of Surgery at the University of Calgary. “Once articular cartilage is damaged it will not heal on its own, so patients are often forced to live with the pain associated with the development of early arthritis.”

For more than 30 years Schachar has devoted his orthopaedic career to teaching and research focused on joint restoration, through limb-sparing procedures and the preservation of bone and cartilage tissues for transplantation. Schachar has been the driving force behind numerous ground-breaking research investigations aimed at improving cryopreservation and hypothermic storage techniques for banking and transplanting articular cartilage.

Dr. Timmermann, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Section Head of Sports Medicine in the Division of Orthopaedics for the CHR, shares Schachar’s keen research interest in articular cartilage injury and repair, specializing in knee reconstruction and sports medicine. More specifically, Timmermann uses healthy bone and cartilage (osteochondral dowels) from young tissue donors to replace an isolated region of damaged cartilage in the knee joint. In addition to this, through innovative funding initiatives, Timmermann is paving the way for a new model of program development.

“Biological treatment options are the future of Orthopaedics,” says Timmermann. “Based on the number of potential recipients of such interventions, it is incredibly exciting to be part of a program that will continue to expand in the near future – allowing us to help our patients to continue the activities that mean so much to their daily lives.”

Like her colleagues, Dr. Carol Hutchison, Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at the U of C, is committed to developing a worldclass program in joint transplantation. Recruited to the University of Calgary in 2005 based on her extensive experience in this area, Hutchison has already made a significant impact by successfully performing the first fresh bulk osteochondral allograft procedure in Alberta.

These surgeons, in collaboration with Dr. Ken Muldrew, an internationally recognized researcher in Cryobiology and Biopreservation, and Research Associate Sue Hunter, have been instrumental in utilizing emerging technologies for preserving and transplanting osteochondral tissues in clinical procedures. As a result, the Joint Transplantation Program is unique because of the cooperative partnerships between basic scientists, clinicians, clinician-scientists, the Calgary Health Region, and the Southern Alberta Tissue Program.

“I was drawn to the unique interdisciplinary approach to translational research that exists in Calgary, which allows us as researchers and clinicians to tap into a tremendous wealth of knowledge that spans disciplines and clinical practice,” says Hutchison. “Thanks to the MIBJH, our Program has the potential to change the course of treatment for patients with joint injury, to prevent or at least delay the need for a total joint replacement – setting a new standard of treatment in Orthopaedics for years to come.”