About the Orthopaedic & Rehabilitation Engineering Center

The Orthopaedic & Rehabilitation Engineering Center (OREC) is designed to promote and encourage significant advances in clinical research through coordinated endeavors between Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin. These opportunities are afforded to faculty and students at Marquette University and to faculty, fellows, and residents in the departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Medical College of Wisconsin. 

Designed to be of mutual benefit to faculty, students and staff, OREC seeks to establish a focus of excellence with national recognition in research and research training while increasing levels of extramural support. Through economics of scale, OREC offers an academically effective and cost-efficient means of supporting high-level, productive, clinical research laboratories, and it provides academic opportunities to faculty and students that support professional development of the highest caliber.

Recent News

Dr. Jeffrey Toth with Microscope in OREC's biomaterials lab

How sleep keeps your bones strong — and how chronic sleep loss raises risk of bone loss and osteoporosis

Dr. Jefrey Toth discusses new research investigating the role of sleep deprivation in osteoporosis with Marquette Today

June 2024:  More than 35% of adults in the U.S. experience chronic sleep restriction, which can be attributed to either health-related conditions or night shift work. This sleep restriction is associated with adverse health conditions and, increasingly, negative bone health such as bone loss, bone fractures and osteoporosis.

Dr. Jeffery Toth, professor of biomaterials in the Department of General Dentistry and associate dean for research at the School of Dentistry, is co-investigator on a project, funded by an R01 award from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging. It aims to determine the mechanisms by which chronic sleep restriction impairs bone remodeling, a lifelong process of bone renewal, and how this impairment may change the trajectory of normal bone health toward osteoporosis and fragility later in life. The award has an expected value of $2.38 million over four years, with Marquette to receive just over $304,000.

Continue Reading in Marquette Today

Marquette hosts 3rd annual toy build for Inclusive Play, a collaboration between OREC and Penfield Children's Center seeking to empower children with different abilities (620WTMJ)

Drs. Jeffrey Toth and Carol Everson Receive $555 K NIH Award to Study Chronic Sleep Deficiency as a Cause of Bone Loss in Aging 

Bucks, Modine host ride-on car fitting day in collaboration with OREC's Go Baby Go! MKE (Milwaukee Bucks Community Facebook Page)

Go Baby Go!: OREC Engineers work to adapt motorized cars for children with special needs (Fox6 Milwaukee)

Flipping the Switch:  How two Marquette Engineers help children in need play and explore (Marquette Today)

Adaptive Toy Build:  OREC Engineers work with Penfield Children's Center and a host of volunteers to adapt toys for use by children with different abilities  (Association for Manufacturing Technology, Marquette Today, NBC 4, TMJ4, FOX6, 620WTMJ, WISN 12)

OREC Global Mobility Engineer Molly Erickson visits Xavier Gait Lab in Mumbai, India

Marquette engineering students recreate 'Santa's Workshop' for children at Penfield Children's Center (58 WDJT—Milwaukee)

Inclusive Play, a collaborative project between OREC and Penfield Children's Center seeking to provide accessible toys for use by children with different abilities, completes second Build Day (TMJ4, Morning Blend)

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