b'he says. The awesome thing is we have some of the worlds bestI choose research topics that Imexperts right here on campus. passionate about and where I can CUTTING FAT IN THE CUFF make a difference. I have a great team of people around me, including UM research into rotator cuffother faculty and research mentors. repair has been an ongoing and increasingly rewarding focus of DrTheres no way I could do any of this Gilotras lab. In the last two years,by myself. Mohit Gilotra, MD he and his team have come to understood that fat accumulating inside a muscle after rotator cuffreducing the risk of seriousway to prevent infection from injuries has a great impact oninfection after shoulder surgery.shoulder surgery.outcomes. There is a type of cell termed fibro-adipogenic thatDr. Gilotra was the principalA thirst for understanding and a lives in muscle, he explains. Atinvestigator and senior author;passion for collaboration drive Dr. the time of injury, it starts makingco-authors include UM colleaguesGilotras work. I believe in sharing either fat or fibrous tissue, whichR. Frank Henn III, M.D., Associateideas. If you keep thinking about we knew. But just recently, we alsoProfessor of Orthopaedics, andthe same thing on your own, learned that from the moment ofS. Ashfaq Hasan, M.D., Associateyou never progress anywhere, injury, it keeps producing fat, whichProfessor of Orthopaedics andhe explains. And, hes not afraid impedes healing. chief of the elbow and shoulderto fail in research. We just keep program in the Department ofgoing. We keep failing and trying Once the team identified theOrthopaedics. Infection is auntil weve figured it out; the final proper medication to preventdevastating complication afterresult is a successful pinnacle fat from forming, they had toany surgery, says Dr. Gilotra. Theachievement usually at the tip ofdetermine how much time after results of this study are gainingan iceberg of failures.an injury a patient should startnational attention as a better taking it. Weve learned that its best to begin immediately if you want to stop fat from forming,Dr. Gilotra notes.RECOGNITION FOR RESEARCHBecause of such groundbreaking work, Dr. Gilotra and his research team received in 2018 the annual Charles S. Neer Award from the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, the first such award ever given to a medical group in the Baltimore-Washington area. Considered the highest honor in shoulder and elbow research, the Neer Award recognized the UM teams work on a randomized controlled trial that demonstrated an effective method of potentiallyDr. Gilotra tests a patients shoulder strength during an examination.Department of Orthopaedics 2019Annual Report9'