Orthopaedic Surgery Master's Program

Martin Skie, MD

Dr. Martin Skie is a distinguished hand and micro-vascular surgeon in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Toledo. He graduated residency from the Medical College of Ohio and completed his Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery fellowship at Loma Linda University Medical Center and Affiliated Hospitals in California. Dr. Skie has previously served on the credentials committee and is serving on the surgical case review committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and the surgery committee for UTMC.

Vijay Goel, PhD

Professor Vijay K. Goel, Ph.D. received his basic engineering education (B.S. and M.S. degrees) in India. He taught for almost 10 years in various engineering schools within India, including Indian Institute Technology, New Delhi. He started his career in the United States of America in 1979 as a Research Associate at Yale University after having earned his doctorate from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia in 1978. He joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa in 1982 as an Assistant Professor. In 1990, he became the Chairman of the department for a period of five+ years. During his tenure as Chair, the grant funding increased significantly, the curriculum was reorganized and the student enrollment increased. In December 2000, Prof. Goel moved to the University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering for a period of 5+ years. As Chair, he was instrumental in developing the departmental curriculum and establishment of the Orthopedic Biomechanics sub tract. He served as Co-Director of the Spine Research Center, a joint undertaking of the colleges of Engineering and Medicine from 2001 to 2006. He was a member of the Ohio’s Third Frontier on Biosciences Task Force. At present he is the Distinguished University Professor, Endowed Chair & McMaster Gardner Professor, and Co-Director, Engineering Center for Orthopaedic Research Excellence (E-CORE) with a joint appointment in the departments of Bioengineering and Orthopaedic Surgery.

Beate Lecka-Czernik, PhD

Dr. Lecka-Czernik is a Professor of Orthopaedic Research at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and a member of Center for Diabetes and Endocrine Research at the UT. She received her PhD from Polish Academy of Sciences followed by postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the area of aging and bone metabolism. Her research is focused on the relationship between fat metabolic status, including bone marrow fat, and bone diseases. She was the first to demonstrate that the antidiabetic TZD drugs cause loss of bone and affect fracture healing in animals. She has also demonstrated that the side effect of TZDs on bone could be prevented with anti-osteoporotic drugs commonly used in clinics. She is currently investigating the means by which diabetic bone homeostasis is improved by specific gene- and pharmacological therapies. Her research has been continuously funded by grants from the National Institute of Health and the American Diabetes Association. Besides research activities, she is actively involved in education on bone health in diabetes. With the prevalence of diabetes, which comprises almost 20% of US population, and increased bone fracture rate in this population, the problem of bone health in diabetes is becoming one of the priorities for national health. There are indications that the maintenance of bone health in diabetes may require other that conventional anti-osteoporotic strategies. Dr. Lecka-Czernik is actively involved in propagating an issue of bone health in diabetes by speaking to lay audience of non-profit organizations such as the American Diabetes Association, organizing symposia on professional meetings (International Bone and Mineral Society 2013 Sun Valley Workshop: Bone and Diabetes; American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 2014 Annual Meeting: Topical Symposium Bone and Diabetes), editorial activities (Guest Editor for Clinical Reviews on Bone Mineral Metabolism special issue Bone and Diabetes in 2012; Book Editor “Bone and Diabetes- Basic and Translational Research” by Springer in 2013), and numerous peer-reviewed reviews and invited lectures.

Champa Jayasuriya, PhD

Dr. Jayasuriya is currently investigating biocompatible, biodegradable, and injectable biomaterials for bone tissue regeneration. The biomaterials often select from natural biopolymers such as polysaccharides. Dr. Jayasuriya’s laboratory, Bone Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, produces multifunctional microparticles for bone tissue regeneration. Dr. Jayasuriya is also investigating encapsulation of therapeutic drugs or growth factors into these microparticles, and controlled release kinetics of those therapeutic agents from microparticles. These microparticles can also be used to deliver human cellsincluding mesenchymal stem cells and osteoblasts. The drug, growth factor, or cells loaded microparticles can be applied to bone defect site via an arthroscopically, a minimally invasive procedure used in orthopaedics. Dr. Jayasuriya also teaches biomaterials, tissue engineering, and clinical decision making courses and lectures. 

Research Interests: Biomaterials, Bone tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Drug and Therapeutic Delivery, Nanobiotechnology, Biomechanics and Cellular Mechanics