Harry McKellop, Ph.D., was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work which has resulted in 12 patents to date on novel methods to reduce polyethylene wear in orthopedic implants.
Harry McKellop Received Lifetime Achievement Award
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In addition, the University of Los Angeles (UCLA) Health was honored with the Power of Partnership Award in honor of the 20-year anniversary of UCLA and OIC alliance.
These awards were announced at the 2018 The Orthopedic Institute for Children (OIC) Stand for Kids Gala celebrating the organization’s impact on pediatric orthopedics.
The Master of Ceremonies was actress Debby Ryan; the Stand for Kids Gala stage will be headlined by Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated performer Matthew Morrison.
Discussing his groundbreaking work, Dr. Harry McKellop told OTW, “We designed and built a machine that could ‘walk’ 12 artificial hips under the same forces that occur inside the body. With this hip simulator, we were able to compare the resistance to wear of different formulations of the polyethylene that is used in artificial hips.”
“We found that cross-linking the polyethylene using gamma radiation improved its resistance to wear ten-fold; enough for it to last the lifetime of a patient.”
“I am honored and touched that the Orthopedic Institute for Children chose to recognize my research work, and that of my colleagues in the Luck Research Center, with the Lifetime Achievement Award, especially coming four years after my retirement. I know that I speak for them when I say that we have always felt very fortunate to be able to conduct our careers in an institution dedicated to improving the lives of orthopedic patients internationally.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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