The last stop on the Travelling Fellowship was the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Ottawa, one of the largest teaching and research centres in Canada, hosted by Dr Paul Beaule. On the first day the fellows were given the opportunity to attend the operating theatre and meet with different faculty members and learn about the exciting and varied research projects at the university. The fellows observed a number of hip arthroscopy’s. This was an eye-opening experience, as the fellows were able to witness first-hand the intricacies of this surgical procedures by Dr Beaule a true master of the technique. Dr Beaule provided the fellows with a detailed commentary of his approach. At the hospital the fellows were given an early preview of the new Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab where they had just had a new KUKA robot installed ready to start a new exciting area of research at the Hospital. Up next was the Gait analysis laboratory and Spine and Movement Biomechanics laboratory at Ottawa health research institute where the fellows met Prof Mario Lamontagne and Dr Ryan Graham who presented their research on using motion capture and musculoskeletal modelling of human joints to help understand the effects of hip osteoarthritis and their novel techniques to measure spine biomechanics.
In the evening, Dr Beaule invited the fellows to dinner at the Rideau Club which is situated in the heart of downtown Ottawa, with stunning views of the Parliament Buildings and the Rideau Canal. The dinner provided a wonderful opportunity for the fellows to network and socialize with Dr. Beaule and other faculty members from the University of Ottawa. The conversation was lively and engaging, and the fellows had the chance to learn more about the work being done in various research areas at the University of Ottawa.
On the second day of the visit, the fellows got up nice and early to present their own work at the Hospital Ground Rounds. This was another excellent opportunity to disseminate their research to experts in their fields who asked lots of fantastic questions. The fellows were then treated to the opportunity to watch Dr George Grammatopoulos perform hip arthroplasty.
For the final part of the day they visited different research labs across the university. This gave the fellows the opportunity to learn even more about the various facilities and equipment available for research projects and to see some of the ongoing research projects being conducted at the University of Ottawa. The first laboratory was focussed on Periprosthetic joint infection hosted by Dr. Hesham Abdelbary and Dr. Mariam Tah. Their work focused on developing innovative treatment strategies of bacterial and biofilm infections with a particular interest in phage therapy and had a developed a unique animal model to simulate biofilms during total hip arthroplasty. Next up was Dr Daniel Coutu’s lab who showed his impressive research on the understanding and utilisation of skeletal stem cells and novel quantitative imaging techniques. The final lab was Dr. Isabelle Catelas lab, where she presented work in the field of Bioengineering and Bone tissue engineering focussing on the study of implant wear particles, their biological effects and possible approaches to modulate these effects, as well as bone regeneration. The fellows found all the different labs fascinating and it helped provide insight into some of the cutting-edge research being conducted at the University of Ottawa.
Overall, the visit to the University of Ottawa and Ottawa hospital was an informative and rewarding experience and a fantastic way to finish off the Travelling fellowship. The fellows were very grateful to Dr Beaule and team for being such excellent hosts.
British Orthopaedic Research Society 