| James Aronson, MD
|
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences/College of Medicine/Department of Pediatric |
Division Chief, Pediatric Orthopaedics, Arkansas Children’s Hospital |
Phone: (501) 364-1100 |
Research Overview
In 1985, Dr. Aronson performed the first leg-lengthening procedure in North America using the Ilizarov method. This technique was first pioneered in Russia. Today, he is recognized worldwide as the leading researcher in this bone-lengthening technique, otherwise known as distraction osteogenesis. He was one of the founders and past president of the Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Society, organizer of the first international meeting of Associations for the Study of the Methods of Ilizarov and editor of numerous orthopaedic journals including, Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research and the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma. As a full-time clinician in pediatric orthopaedics, he cares for children with all orthopaedic problems and as professor at UAMS, has published over 60 articles and 20 chapters, edited a textbook, and educated over 80 residents in orthopaedic surgery.
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Aronson has employed the Ilizarov method for more than 500 patients to salvage limbs that were shortened from congenital deformity or trauma. He has also used its capability to reconstruct complex angular deformities, osteomyelitis, and nonunions in patients as young as 16 months and older than 50 years who would otherwise face amputations or lifelong handicaps.
Dr. Aronson received the 1995 Pediatric Orthopaedic Society’s Arthur H. Huene Memorial Award. Dr. Aronson was only the fifth person ever honored by his colleagues in North America for making significant research contributions to the field of pediatric orthopaedics. Most recently, Dr. Aronson received the prestigious Nicolas Andry Award at an international meeting in Paris, for the combined work, with many colleagues such as Dr. Charles Lumpkin, Jr., PhD, at the Laboratory for Limb Regeneration Research, using the rat model to study mechanisms of bone formation and failure with aging using molecular biology and modulators.
Dr. Aronson is collaborating with Dr. Lumpkin and Dr. John Fowlkes, MD (Pediatric Endocrinology), to study the effects of diabetes on new bone formation. He also collaborates with Martin Ronis, PhD (Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center), to study the effects of ethanol on bone growth and homeostasis. Dr. Aronson and his longtime colleague, Lichu Liu, MD, are directing their research toward therapies for modulating the adverse regression of marrow progenitor cells associated with aging in order to reverse bone catabolism. Their latest grant submission with Principal Investigator, Beata Lecka-Czernik, PhD (Department of Gerontology), explores mechanisms of certain diabetic drugs on marrow fat and bone progenitor cells, such as roziglitazone.
In May 2006, Dr. Aronson, representing Arkansas Children’s Hospital, will be the first physician from Arkansas to present an invited lecture to the North American Leadership Conference for the Children’s Circle of Care Donors in Chicago.
Key Publications
Aronson J, Liu L, Liu Z, Gao GG, Perrien D, Brown E, Skinner RA, Thomas JR, Morris KD, Suva LJ, Badger TM, Lumpkin CK Jr. Decreased Endosteal Membranous Bone Formation Accompanies Aging in a Mouse Model of Distraction Osteogenesis. e-biomed: J Regenerative Med. 3:7-15, 2002.
Aronson, J. The Nicolas Andry Award, Modulation of Distraction Osteogenesis in the Aged Rat by Fibroblast Growth Factor. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 425:264-283. 2004
Perrien D, Brown E, Fletcher T, Irby J, Aronson J, Gao G, Skinner R, Hogue W, Feige W, Suva L, Ronis M, Badger T, Lumpkin CK Jr. Interleukin-1 and Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonists Attenuate Ethanol-Induced Inhibition of Bone Formation in a Rat Model of Distraction Osteogenesis. JPET. 303:904-904, 2002.
Thrailkill KM, Liu L, Wahl EC, Bunn RC, Cockrell GE, Perrien DS, Skinner RA, Fowlkes JF, Aronson J, Lumpkin CK Jr. Bone Formation is Impaired in a Model of Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes. 54(10):2875-2881. 2005
Shankar K, Hidestrand M, Haley R, Skinner RA, Hogue W, Jo CH, Simpson P, Lumpkin CK Jr, Aronson J, Badger TM, Ronis MJ. Different molecular mechanisms underlie ethanol-induced bone loss in cycling and pregnant rats. Endocrinology. 147(1):166-78. 2006.
*To find additional publications by this author, please visit Pubmed Central, a National Institutes of Health-operated site for electronic distribution of life sciences research reports.
Research Support
Co-investigator: NIDDK/NIH, Type 2 Diabetes and Osteoblastogenesis
Co-investigator: NIH/NIAAA, 2R01AA1223-05,2, Ethanol and Osteoblastogenesis
Co-investigator: NIH/NIAAA, R01 AA12928, Ethanol Effects on Bone Formation in Pregnancy