Research is an integral part of the University of Miami Sports Medicine Institute and propels us to be a national leader in sports medicine. Through research grants and the generous support of many of our patients, we have assembled a multi-disciplinary team that includes over 30 clinicians and scientists taking advantage of the vast array of resources at the University of Miami. A unique feature of any University is our students from programs such as Medicine, Engineering, and Kinesiology who work closely with our clinicians and patients to study a wide variety of problems. We are pleased to be the only academic Sports Medicine program in southern Florida.
Bench to Sideline
Our research features a truly ‘bench to sideline’ approach that places our program among the nation’s leaders. We typically have over 40 active clinical studies to learn more about professional, university and high school athletes. In addition, we study our ‘weekend warriors’ as well as everyday people with common chronic and disabling diseases such as osteoarthritis. Our motto is that ‘every patient is an athlete in a different stage of training’. We also feature a vast array of basic science investigations targeting mechanisms of osteoarthritis as well as acute sports injuries involving articular cartilage of the knee.
We have a number of targeted research areas including regenerative medicine, athletic performance and return to play, concussion, and clinical outcomes. Each of these four areas includes both laboratory and clinical studies where we combine both approaches to advance patient care. Find below a brief summary of these programs.
Regenerative Medicine
Medicine is in an exciting time with the emergence of regenerative medicine therapies. The University of Miami has a rich history which began with using stem cell therapies to treat heart disease and has applied findings to more than 16 disease areas, including therapies for wound healing, lung disease, sports injuries, kidney disease, aging frailty and gastrointestinal issues. The Sports Medicine Institute partners utilize stem cell therapies to tackle challenging problems such as osteoarthritis, meniscus tears, and articular cartilage injuries with the vision of bringing new treatments to our patients. We are collaborating with several universities and Industry as well as international colleagues to explore the latest application of stem cell and other cell-based therapies to improve patient outcomes.
Athletic Performance and Return to Play
At the heart of Sports Medicine is injury prevention and safe return to play following injury. We are active in a number of studies that utilize new technologies developed here at the University of Miami to screen athletes for injury and well as better predict a safe return to play.
Concussion
Sport-related concussion is one of the fastest growing areas of research in the field of Sports Medicine. Our concussion program works closely with both professional and collegiate athletes as well as being the major provider of concussion care to high school athletes in the Miami-Dade region. A number of research studies are ongoing to better understand the optimal care of the concussed athlete as well as factors predicting prolonged recovery from injury.
Clinical Outcomes
We are actively engaged in studies that focus on the patient and his/her outcomes following both surgical and non-operative care.
Our philosophy is to take what we learn from our patients to help advance the field of scientific discovery and ultimately improve patient care. Accordingly, you can expect to be asked to participate in one of our studies when you visit one of our clinics. Our goal is not to burden our patients but to learn from their clinical problems and our treatments to better serve them as well as others. We welcome you to entrust us with your care as we seek to not only provide state of the art care but to advance the field through research.
