FedEx gift advances musculoskeletal lab

InMotion work aims to improve treatment while lifting professional-grade jobs

The Commercial Appeal
December 4, 2007
By Daniel Connolly

The announcement of a big donation from FedEx Corp. was just one of the pieces of good news that leaders of the InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute shared with researchers who came from around the country Monday for a meeting of the lab's scientific advisory committee.

The shipping giant is giving InMotion a grant worth $450,000 over three years, bringing the total the organization has raised to $7.2 million, said InMotion spokesman Chris Przybyszewski. He said InMotion convinced FedEx that supporting the laboratory is in its own interest, since orthopedic firms spend heavily on shipping. FedEx spokeswoman Denise Lauer said the company supports the communities in which it operates and has made several donations to boost the biosciences.

The nonprofit lab was incorporated in Tennessee last year with the goal of improving the treatment of diseases and injuries of the muscular and skeletal systems. It aims to adapt scientific discoveries for practical use on patients and is part of a broader effort to increase the number of high-paying science-related jobs in Memphis.

In its short life, the lab has built relationships with many institutions, including the area's major universities and orthopedic medical device companies. Robert Nerem, director of a bioscience institute at Georgia Institute of Technology and an adviser to InMotion, said he's impressed with the number of institutions that back the lab.

"They have tremendous community support," he said.

On Monday, the lab's leaders gave the visiting scientists an update on research and fund-raising in a conference room in the building they share with other scientific organizations near the site of the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Downtown.

The lab's short-term plans include taking over more laboratory space within the building and partnering with more local clinics and organizations, said InMotion president and executive director Dick Tarr.

There were also updates on the lab's research.

Ruxandra Marinescu, a biomechanical engineer, described a study of patients who have had stabilizing nails placed inside broken leg bones and experience knee pain.

She said preliminary test results showed that there is twice as much strain around the nail insertion hole as there would be in a normal leg bone, and she's scheduled to present the work at the prestigious Orthopaedic Research Society conference next year.

The visiting scientists gave advice on what the lab should do next. Nerem said InMotion should hire a senior scientist to complement the organizational skills of Tarr, who is trained as an biomedical engineer.

Tarr said the lab is looking for top-level doctors to fill two positions. But the recruiting process is slow, and a job related to trauma cases is very hard to fill.

However, he said the lab may be able to find some of the science brainpower it needs by working with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to hire an orthopedics professor. The institutions are still discussing the possibilities.

-- Daniel Connolly: 529-5296

More information

InMotion Musculoskeletal Institute

President and executive director: Dick Tarr

Address: 20 S. Dudley, Suite 700

Employees: 15