Lab History

The Cartilage & Connective Tissue Research Laboratory was founded in 1990 at the University of Toronto and moved to the Mayo Clinic in 1992 by Dr. Shawn W. O'Driscoll, Ph.D., M.D. Dr. O'Driscoll had been involved in periosteum-related cartilage research in vivo for the repair of articular cartilage defects since 1981. He was stimulated by the many unanswered questions to develop an in vitro model to study the regulation of periosteal chondrogenesis. This focus continues as the periosteal culture model developed by Dr. O'Driscoll is being used to study the process of chondrogenesis and to study interventions to enhance chondrogenesis and ultimately improve cartilage repair in a clinical setting.