Articular Cartilage: Injury, Restoration, and Preservation

Freddie H. Fu, MD was a transformational advocate and leader in orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, and musculoskeletal research. He also respected, nurtured, and participated in articular cartilage research. A lot of what we know about articular cartilage stems from studies led by orthopedic faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. These contributions include pioneering work on articular cartilage metabolism and the effects of corticosteroids, the chondrotoxicity of local anesthetics, and chondrocyte transplantation for articular cartilage repair. As department chair, Freddie Fu's tremendous leadership created conditions where new concepts and approaches advanced by orthopedic faculty such as advanced tissue engineering to create osteochondral tissues for space and drug development, localized gene therapy, novel cartilage imaging, as well as the definition and demonstration of pre-osteoarthritis to prevent or delay the onset of osteoarthritis are now poised to transform the future of joint preservation and musculoskeletal health.