SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Mar 7, 2008 -- After serving as member-at-large on the AAOS Board of Directors, Kristy L. Weber, MD, is excited about her new role as Chair of the Council on Research, Quality Assessment and Technology (CORQAT). "I'm stepping into some big shoes," she said of her predecessor, Joshua J. Jacobs, MD. CORQAT is the research and technology Council within the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), which announced her appointment at the Academy's 75th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

"I am really excited about this opportunity," said Dr. Weber, an associate professor and the chief of the Division of Orthopaedic Oncology at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. "This is a real opportunity to work hard and to make a great deal of difference within the Academy." Her areas of clinical interest include treatment of patients with malignant bone and soft-tissue tumors, utilizing limb-salvage techniques around the hip, pelvis and shoulder. Her basic science interests are in the area of metastatic bone disease.

First on Dr. Weber's agenda is to increase understanding of the Council's role within orthopaedics. "Unlike with an Education or Advocacy Council, the Research Council's duties are sometimes hard to grasp, mainly because it encompasses a plethora of areas," she explained, citing "patient safety, evidence-based practice, and guidelines development" as examples. The council recently added technology assessment to its program in response to AAOS Fellow requests.

"My goal is to stay on top of the hot topics and health-policy trends," Dr. Weber stated. "We need to be flexible enough to work in those areas of research where problems or opportunities may arise."

Dr. Weber is admittedly "a huge supporter of the Academy" and active in many facets of the AAOS, serving on various project teams and committees, including the Tumor and Metabolic Disease Program Subcommittee, the Board of Specialty Societies and as a Leadership Fellows Program Mentor. She is also a member of several other professional organizations on cancer research and orthopaedics. In addition to publishing more than 100 works (including over 50 peer-reviewed articles, two books and over 30 book chapters), Dr. Weber is the winner of the Kappa Delta Award for orthopaedic research. She currently serves on editorial review boards for the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery and Clinical Cancer Research, among others.

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