The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to celebrate nearly 40 years of partnership with the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. Founded in 1863 and headquartered in New York City, HSS is the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States and has been consistently ranked among the nation’s top hospitals for orthopedics. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. HSS provides specialized care to more than 200,000 patients each year, performing over 40,000 orthopedic surgical procedures annually, including more hip and knee replacements than any other hospital in the United States.
The F. M. Kirby Foundation’s long-standing support has been largely focused on the HSS Department of Biomechanics, where teams of engineers, scientists, and surgeons are working together to solve challenging orthopedic problems including osteoarthritis (OA), which affects hundreds of millions of patients worldwide and is the leading cause of joint replacement surgery. Led by Dr. Timothy Wright, holder of the F. M. Kirby Chair in Orthopedic Biomechanics, research is aimed at improving the performance of total joint implants, delaying the need for these surgeries by optimizing the function of normal joints after an injury like an ACL tear, and developing biomaterials and scaffolds for tissue regeneration to treat cartilage defects in the joint that are the precursor to developing OA. The Department is also committed to providing education and training for students pursuing careers in orthopedic surgery and biomedical engineering. Its research, development, and educational programs are conducted in collaboration with Cornell University through the Center for Advanced Materials and Engineering in Orthopaedics (CAMEO).
The F. M. Kirby Foundation is honored to support Hospital for Special Surgery’s mission to advance human mobility for people across the globe through the most trusted musculoskeletal care continuum, powered by leading talent, and innovative research, education, and technology.
