FACULTY
Roy D. Bloebaum, Ph.D.
801-582-1565 x 4607
Roy.Bloebaum@hsc.utah.edu
Co-Director of the Bone and Joint Research Lab/Research Professor/Career Scientist
As the Co-Director of Bone and Joint Laboratory over the past 23 years, Dr. Bloebaum has been lead- or co-author on over 100 papers on clinically related and translational work. His personal goal is to safely introduce osseointegrated implants (OI) for Veterans and warfighters with limb loss over the next five years. Under Dr. Bloebaum’s direction, the Bone and Joint Research Lab was established in 1987. The mission statement of this lab is to “contribute knowledge to the advancement of Orthopaedic, clinical and basic sciences through hypothesis-driven basic and translational research programs, providing education programs for patients, clinical care providers, fellows, researchers, and students, which will lead to improved clinical treatments and VA patient care.” Accordingly, over the past 23 years, Dr. Bloebaum has successfully managed over 14 major VA, NIH and DOD grants, 25 graduate students, 10 residents, 5 post doctorate fellows, 27 medical students and 36 undergraduate students. He has collaborated with 11 VA physicians. Dr. Bloebaum has over 30 years experience in establishing implant design criteria for implant attachment to the bone. This work has received national and international awards. The current challenge is to secure a permanent skin seal at the skin-implant interface to prevent periprosthetic OI infection. The BJRL has established models to pursue this goal. The lab is one of the few in the world capable of processing large implants in tissue without disturbing the interface. These are essential skills to assess the skin and bone response to the presence of an implant.
Dustin L. Williams, Ph.D.
801-582-1565 x 4130
Dustin.Williams@utah.edu
Co-Director of the Bone and Joint Research Lab/Assistant Professor
Dr. Williams is Co-Director of the Bone and Joint Research Lab and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Utah. His work focuses on the development of antimicrobial strategies to treat and prevent biofilm implant-related infections. This has included the development of a membrane biofilm reactor and flow cell system to model clinically-relevant environments of device-related infections, the use of biofilms as initial inocula in animal models of infection, imaging of biofilms, and the characterization of organisms related to osseointegrated implant infections. Dr. Williams graduated with a BS in Microbiology from Weber State University and a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Utah. He also serves as the Chief Scientific Officer of Curza Global, LLC, which sponsors research related to the development of a novel class of antimicrobial compounds that have 2-in-1 ability to disperse and kill bacterial biofilms.
TECHNICIANS
Richard Tyler Epperson – Research Supervisor
Brooke Kawaguchi – Histotechnologist & Project Manager
ADMINISTRATION
Amber Payne – Drs. Bloebaum and Williams Assistant
801-582-1565 x 4143
Amber.Payne@hsc.utah.edu
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