Dr. Roger Härtl and his spine team, in collaboration with Dr. Larry Bonassar and the Biomedical Engineering team in Ithaca, have been working on promising new approaches to spinal disorders. One of those research efforts – the creation of a novel collagen gel to repair herniated discs – has just been named the 2014 winner of the Ronald Apfelbaum Research Award.
The Apfelbaum Award, which is sponsored by Aesculap, is presented each year by the AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves at its annual meeting. The award includes $15,000 in funding for spine research and is an opportunity for peer review to help improve the chances of obtaining NIH funding. Dr. Härtl’s research, “Annular Repair Using High-Density Collagen Gel Seeded with Annular Fibroblasts: An In Vivo Study,” will be honored at this year’s meeting on March 8 in Orlando.
