Training in Orthopaedic Team Science Program

The explosion of new knowledge in genomics, cell biology and biomedical engineering technology is ripe for translation into new orthopaedic applications for improving the diagnosis and management of patients with musculoskeletal disorders. We propose a new paradigm for training musculoskeletal scientists in an academic setting—a concept that is modeled after the proven, team science approach used by pharmaceutical companies.

On This Page: Application Process | Faculty | Trainees and Their Projects

About the TOTS Program

The Training in Orthopaedic Team Science (TOTS) program, funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), sponsors the pursuit of well-circumscribed, translational research projects by discovery teams composed of orthopaedic residents, postdoctoral Ph.D. fellows, staff, medical students and faculty preceptors. Successful implementation of the TOTS program is expected to produce musculoskeletal scientists who will enter the workforce with the requisite experience in translational research and leadership training to move discoveries effectively between the bench and bedside.

Trainees, Projects and Publications

Since its inception in 2015, the TOTS program has had several training teams. These teams and their projects reflect the trainees’ diverse scientific interests.

Research Team: Alex Johnson, M.D. (orthopaedic resident); Bernhard Fuerst, Ph.D. (postdoctoral trainee); Ali Uneri, Ph.D. (postdoctoral trainee); Greg Osgood, M.D. (mentor); Nassir Navab, Ph.D. (mentor); Jeffrey Siewerdsen, Ph.D. (mentor)

Project Title: Head Mounted Display (HMD) Applications for Orthopaedic Surgery

Publications:
- Qian L, Barthel A, Johnson A, Osgood G, Kazanzides P, Navab N, Fuerst B. Comparison of Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Displays for Surgical Interventions with Object-Anchored 2D Display. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (IJCARS). Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2017 Jun;12(6):901-910.
- Fotouhi J, Fuerst B, Johnson A, Lee SC, Taylor R, Osgood G, Navab N, Armand M. Pose-aware C-arm for automatic re-initialization of interventional 2D/3D image registration. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2017 Jul;12(7):1221-1230.
- Lee SC, Fuerst B, Tateno K, Johnson A, Fotouhi J, Osgood G, Tombari F, Navab N. Multi-modal Imaging, Model-based Tracking and Mixed Reality Visualisation for Orthopaedic Surgery. Healthcare Technology Letters. 2017 Aug 4.
Research Team: John Thompson, M.D. (orthopaedic resident); Julie Pickett, Ph.D. (postdoctoral fellow); Lloyd Miller, M.D., Ph.D. (mentor); Daniel Thorek, Ph.D. (mentor)

Project Title: The Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Treatment of Orthopaedic Implant-Associated Infections

Publications:
- Ashbaugh AG, Jiang X, Zheng J, Tsai AS, Kim WS, Thompson JM, Miller RJ, Shahbazian JH, Wang Y, Dillen CA, Ordonez AA, Chang YS, Jain SK, Jones LC, Sterling RS, Mao HQ, Miller LS. Polymeric nanofiber coating with tunable combinatorial antibiotic delivery prevents biofilm-associated infection in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Oct 24.
- Wang Y, Thompson JM, Ashbaugh AG, Khodakivskyi P, Budin G, Sinisi R, Heinmiller A, van Oosten M, van Dijl JM, van Dam GM, Francis KP, Bernthal NM, Dubikovskaya EA, Miller LS. Preclinical Evaluation of Photoacoustic Imaging as a Novel Noninvasive Approach to Detect an Orthopaedic Implant Infection. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2017 Feb;25 Suppl 1:S7-S12.
- Thompson JM, Saini V, Ashbaugh AG, Miller RJ, Ordonez AA, Ortines RV, Wang Y, Sterling RS, Jain SK, Miller LS. Oral-Only Linezolid-Rifampin Is Highly Effective Compared with Other Antibiotics for Periprosthetic Joint Infection: Study of a Mouse Model. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2017 Apr 19;99(8):656-665.
- Wang Y, Cheng LI, Helfer DR, Ashbaugh AG, Miller RJ, Tzomides AJ, Thompson JM, Ortines RV, Tsai AS, Liu H, Dillen CA, Archer NK, Cohen TS, Tkaczyk C, Stover CK, Sellman BR, Miller LS. Mouse model of hematogenous implant-related Staphylococcus aureus biofilm infection reveals therapeutic targets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Jun 27;114(26):E5094-E5102.

Applying to the TOTS Program

The T32 Training Program in Orthopaedic Surgery supports one orthopaedic resident each year and one postdoctoral fellow trainee for two years. Only orthopaedic residents within the Johns Hopkins Orthopaedic Residency Program are eligible. Postdoctoral fellows whose research relates to the research area of focus proposed by the orthopaedic resident are eligible for this award.

Application Eligibility & Deadlines

This program is funded by NIAMS. Eligibility is limited to U.S. citizens, U.S. noncitizen nationals, and individuals with permanent residence status. Citizenship and permanent residency requirements must be met at the time of trainee appointment.
Applications are accepted beginning July 1 of each year. Candidates are encouraged to apply by October 1 of each year.