Advanced Equine Arthroscopy

Dr. Kawcak is one of a team of researchers working to find ways to prevent and treat catastrophic injuries in equine athletes. Kawcak is assessing three-dimensional imaging techniques, MRI and CT to diagnose early joint disease and microscopic joint injuries before these develop into serious injuries. Working with researchers in biomedical engineering the team has developed biomechanical models to assess risk factors specific to each individual athlete with implications for human bone and joint disease.

McIlwraith, a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences is the founder of the Orthopaedic Research Center at CSU. He is also the namesake of the new C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute, which aims to deliver medical innovations by harnessing the body’s healing powers to help animals and people suffering from a wide range of diseases.

His research interests focus on equine orthopedic surgery and joint disease research, including novel treatments for osteoarthritis and articular cartilage repair, mesenchymal stem-cell and gene therapies, and early diagnosis of osteoarthritis and pre-fracture disease using imaging and fluid biomarkers.

McIlwraith has authored six textbooks, 450 scientific publications and textbook chapters, and has delivered more than 650 scientific presentations, seminars and workshops around the globe. He also holds the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair in Orthopaedics and is director of the Musculoskeletal Research Program, a CSU Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence

Dr. Ryan Carpenter graduated from UC Davis, school of veterinary medicine in 2005 and went on to complete a surgical residency and combined masters program at Colorado State University where he conducted orthopedic research projects focusing on gene therapy and fracture healing under the direction of the Equine Orthopedic Research Center at CSU. Ryan spends his mornings as an active racetrack practitioner in the shedrow at Santa Anita and Del Mar and his afternoons in the hospital specializing in orthopedic and upper airway surgery. When not at the track, Ryan enjoys spending time with his wife, Jill and daughters Brooklyn and Taylor and Billy, the family pup.

After arriving at CSU, Dr. Frisbie began his work on a novel way to treat joint disease using gene therapy, the focus of his Ph.D. Dr. Frisbie is board certified in Large Animal Surgery and is a Diplomate of the ACVS. He joined the faculty as an assistant professor in Equine Surgery in the Dept. of Clinical Sciences in 1999, associate professor (with tenure) in 2007, and professor in 2013. He is a Diplomate of the ACVSMR and a Founding Fellow of ACVS Minimally Invasive Surgery (large animal orthopaedics). Dr. Frisbie has served on the American Association of Equine Practitioners Board of Directors as well as held the position of Secretary on the Board of Directors for the ACSMR. His current areas of research include musculoskeletal diagnosis and treatment. He has evaluated various therapeutics and biologics such as stem cells. As well as looking at novel platforms for diagnosing musculoskeletal disease has developed diagnostic tools such as standing arthroscopy of the equine stifle.

Dr. Laurie Goodrich is the Director of the Orthopaedic Research Center at Colorado State University’s C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute and an equine surgeon specializing in orthopedic surgery and lameness with a focus on musculoskeletal injuries and trauma.  She holds the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair in Orthopaedics and is an American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) Founding Fellow in Minimally Invasive Surgery, Large Animal Orthopedics.  She received her DVM from the University of Illinois, completed an internship at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and an equine surgical residency at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Northern Virginia.  During that time, she also completed a Master of Science in Pharmacology.  She became faculty at Cornell University as an Equine Surgeon in 1996 and also completed a PhD in cartilage repair in 2005 while at Cornell.  She then began at CSU in 2005 as an Assistant Professor of Equine Surgery and is currently a Professor of Surgery and a principal investigator in the Orthopaedic Research Center.  She is a translational scientist whose research focuses on regenerative medicine, gene therapies and biologics to improve joint and bone repair in both animals and people. She is an active faculty member for AOVET, on the Board of Directors for North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Association, the immediate past Chair of the Preclinical Models Section of the Orthopedic Research Society and a past Chair of the Board of Regents for the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.  In her spare time she is an avid backcountry skier, mountain biker and whitewater kayaker.

Dr. Brad Nelson is currently an assistant professor of Lameness and Orthopaedic Surgery at Colorado State University. Dr. Nelson graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a D.V.M. in 2009, and then completed an equine internship in surgery and medicine at Washington State University, followed by a residency in equine surgery and lameness at CSU. He also received a master’s degree in clinical sciences as part of the residency program. Following residency, Dr. Nelson completed a PhD focused on articular cartilage imaging using a novel contrast agent with computed tomographic imaging in an equine model. Dr. Nelson’s research interests are in the detection of articular cartilage injury and osteoarthritis using advanced diagnostic imaging modalities and preclinical surgical models of orthopedic disease. He became an assistant professor of Equine Surgery in 2019 and is a principal investigator in the Orthopaedic Reserch Center and Preclinical Surgical Reserach Laboratory.