Don Anderson is the Richard and Jan Johnson Chair in Orthopedic Biomechanics, Professor, and Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Orthopedics & Rehabilitation at the University of Iowa. He holds a BSE in Biomedical Engineering, as well as an MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering, all earned at the University of Iowa. Dr. Anderson has 30+ years of experience with image analysis, computer modeling, and computational stress analysis in musculoskeletal applications. Dr. Anderson's primary research focus throughout his career has been on articular joint biomechanics, specifically studying the mechanical relationship between joint injury and the subsequent development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. All of his post-graduate career has been spent working in a clinical orthopedic setting, which has guided his work toward informing and influencing patient care.
Learn more about Dr. Anderson
Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis Risk from Pathomechanics: Supporting Studies and New Intervention Strategies
The long-term goal of our research is to forestall post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA), the disabling condition that often develops after joint injuries like an intra-articular fracture (IAF) of the tibial plafond. PTOA is one of the leading causes of mobility-related disability, affecting approximately 5.6 million individuals in the U.S. alone. PTOA leads to permanent disability in nearly 30% of individuals having sustained an IAF, with those of the foot and ankle being the most disabling. The impairment associated with ankle OA is comparable to that caused by end-stage kidney disease or congestive heart failure. The vast majority of ankle OA is post-traumatic, with tibial plafond IAFs often leading to disabling PTOA within two to five years. As a result, patients with ankle injuries provide an ideal population in which to study this degenerative pathway so that we can optimize treatment. We have developed patient-specific precision medicine approaches to predict PTOA risk in the ankle using CT-based measures of pathomechanical factors associated with IAFs (fracture severity and elevated contact stress post-treatment) of the tibial plafond. A primary objective of the group’s present work is to enable the use of these innovative methods for assessing IAFs to better inform patient care and to guide future clinical trials of new therapies directed at mitigating or arresting the environment that triggers progressive joint degeneration.