Members of the UCSF Orthopaedics Department gathered at the Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina, where faculty, trainees, and collaborators presented research spanning musculoskeletal biology, biomechanics, artificial intelligence, and health equity. Kelsey Collins, PhD received the prestigious NEXT Award, recognizing outstanding early-career achievement in orthopaedic research. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
UCSF faculty, trainees, and collaborators presented research spanning musculoskeletal biology, biomechanics, artificial intelligence, and health equity. Dr. Kelsey Collins, PhD received the NEXT Award for translational science, and multiple investigators contributed across podium and poster sessions.
San Francisco — April 10, 2026 — The UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery presented a broad portfolio of research at the Orthopaedic Research Society 2026 Annual Meeting in Charlotte, highlighting work in musculoskeletal biology, biomechanics, artificial intelligence, and health equity. This work underscores UCSF’s continued leadership in translational orthopaedic science.
Faculty, trainees, and collaborators contributed across podium presentations, workshops, and posters, reflecting a research enterprise that bridges basic discovery and clinical application.
The department also received major individual recognition. Dr. Kelsey Collins received the NEXT Award for translational science for her work in osteoarthritis and systemic musculoskeletal disease. Her trainee, Dr. Hope Welhaven, PhD, received the New Investigator Recognition Award (NIRA).
“ORS is a critical meeting for our field because it brings together discovery across the full translational spectrum,” said Dr. C. Benjamin Ma, chair of UCSF Orthopaedic Surgery. “What stands out is not only the volume of science, but its direction toward improving how we diagnose, treat, and care for patients living with musculoskeletal disease. That connection between research and patient impact is central to UCSF’s mission.”
UCSF participation also included national leadership programming, including a featured discussion on changes at the National Institutes of Health and the future of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Former UCSF faculty member Dr. Tamara Alliston, now Scientific Director of NIAMS, was among the panelists.
Across sessions and informal exchanges, UCSF’s presence was visible throughout the meeting, reinforcing its role as a major contributor to the national orthopaedic research agenda and to advancing therapies for patients with injury, arthritis, and degenerative musculoskeletal conditions.
UCSF Orthopaedic Surgery Contributions at ORS 2026
- Chelsea S. Bahney, PhD
Workshop: Addressing Overlooked Variables in Preclinical Fracture Repair Research for Improved Translation (Preclinical Models Research Section & International Section of Fracture Repair Workshop) - Takuma Kaibara, MD, PhD
Podium and poster: Short Socket ACL Reconstruction Reduces Tunnel Widening While Maintaining Graft Maturation and Comparable Clinical Outcomes: A Prospective Quantitative MRI Study - Masakazu Toi, PhD
Poster: Dynamic Changes in Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons Following Bone Fracture - Aidan Foley
Poster: Patients With Low-Back Pain Have Worse Hip-Specific and General Functional Recovery Following Total Hip Arthroplasty - Aniket Pratapneni
Podium: Validation of Single-Camera Pose Estimation for Orthopaedic Motion Analysis
Poster: The Effect of Chronic Low Back Pain on Whole-Body Gait Dynamics - Hope D. Welhaven, PhD
Podium and poster: TurboID Proximity Labeling Confirms the Role of Fat-Joint Crosstalk in Osteoarthritis and Aging - Noah Bonnheim, PhD
Podium: Factors Influencing the Relationship Between T1ρ MRI and T2-Weighted MRI Biomarkers of Disc Degeneration
Podium: Chronic Low Back Pain Is Associated With Accelerated Epigenetic Aging - Bethany Andoko
Podium: Adipose-Derived Complement Factors Drive Knee Pain With Sham and Knee Injury in Aged Male Mice - Alexis Camacho, MS
Posters: The Influence of Multifidus Muscle Quality on Longitudinal Improvement of Pain and Physical Function in Chronic Low Back Pain;
Evaluating Immediate Biomechanical Changes in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients Before and After Diagnostic Medial Branch Nerve Block - Alex Youn
Presentations: Fibroadipogenic Progenitors Possess Endogenous Antimicrobial Properties in an Age-Dependent Fashion;
Comparing Sex-Based Transcriptomic Differences to Patient-Matched Reported Outcomes in Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome
Highlights from ORS 2026
Dr. Tamara Alliston, at left, speaks during a session on changes at the National Institutes of Health and the future of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, joined by colleagues. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
Dr. C. Benjamin Ma, chair of UCSF Orthopaedic Surgery, with collaborators at ORS 2026 in Charlotte. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
UCSF’s Charlotte Lenz presents at ORS 2026. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
Members of the UCSF MITO (Muscle Injury and Translational Orthopedic) research lab gathered at ORS 2026 in Charlotte. UCSF’s Dr. Brian Feeley and Dr. Xuhui Liu co-direct the research lab. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
UCSF presenters Nesa Milan, MD, at left, and Ryan Sadjadi, MPhil at ORS 2026. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
UCSF presenters Megan Le, at left, and Olivia Deantoni at ORS 2026. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
UCSF’s Dr. Xuhui Liu presents at ORS 2026. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
UCSF MITO research lab members at ORS 2026. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
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