Orthopedic clinical research chair created with $1.15M funding

Montreal, QC – The Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center has created an academic chair in spinal deformities to be held by Dr Stefan Parent, an orthopedic surgeon and researcher at Sainte-Justine’s Research Center as well as a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal. With the help of the $1.15 million in funding from DePuy Spine Canada, the research team will focus on clinical research and teaching as well as the development of innovative surgery techniques for the treatment of scoliosis.

The primary objective of the chair is to develop new approaches to assess the risk of scoliosis progression through the use of 3D measurements of the vertebrae and the pelvis taken during the first medical examination.

The clinical research activities will focus on a three-year prospective study of 350 scoliosis patients, a 3D evaluation of the condition of the patients aimed at screening the risk of progression as well as the development of a clinical research unit over a span of five years.

“The aims we are pursuing consist in finding and proposing ways to avoid or reduce the need for invasive surgery,” says Dr Parent. “Early detection of the risk of progression of scoliosis will have a significant impact on the choice and time of the intervention.”