American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
For Immediate Release Apr 29, 2019

AMSSM Research Network Releases $300,000 Request for Proposals

The AMSSM Collaborative Research Network (CRN) announced a $300,000 request for proposals addressing knowledge gaps in the management of osteoarthritis (OA) using cooled radiofrequency (CRF) ablation techniques.

In conjunction with the AMSSM Foundation, the AMSSM CRN is pleased to release this request for proposals to help facilitate and fund promising research studies that use CRF ablation techniques for the treatment of osteoarthritis in sports medicine settings. 

“Osteoarthritis is one of the most prevalent conditions treated in sports medicine clinics. Yet our attempts to manage pain in our patient populations often result in varying degrees of success,” said Anthony Beutler, MD, the CRN Leadership Committee Chair. “There is a need to identify safe, efficacious treatment strategies for OA, and this request for proposals provides us research opportunities to further expand our knowledge of potential treatment options.”

OA affects over 30 million adults in the United States, but there is currently no cure for the disease. In addition to physical activity, weight loss, and physical therapy, physicians also consider various intra-articular injection strategies to help manage pain for certain OA patient populations with varying degrees of success.

CRF ablation is a newer technique used to deliver localized, therapeutic lesions into nervous tissue with the goal of facilitating denervation to relieve chronic pain. The ultimate objective of this research program is to foster research that will inform the clinical practice of AMSSM members and will help establish AMSSM as a leader in sports medicine research. 

With a mission of fostering collaborative, multi-site research among AMSSM members, the CRN and the AMSSM Foundation would like to acknowledge Avanos Medical for their contribution of research grant funds to the AMSSM Foundation in support of this RFP.

“The CRN is grateful for the research vision and collaborative opportunities provided by Avanos to help us in our mission of advancing the practice of sports medicine,” said AMSSM Research Director Stephanie Kliethermes, PhD. “This research grant award will allow our researchers an opportunity to better understand the use of Cooled RFA technology in the sports medicine setting, and hopefully lead to more evidence-based knowledge regarding treatment strategies for individuals afflicted with OA.”

Questions and comments about this research opportunity can be directed to AMSSM Research Director Stephanie Kliethermes, PhD or CRN Leadership Committee Chair Anthony Beutler, MD.

About the AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of more than 3,800 sports medicine physicians dedicated to education, research, advocacy and the care of athletes of all ages. The majority of AMSSM members are primary care physicians with fellowship training and added qualification in sports medicine who then combine their practice of sports medicine with their primary specialty. AMSSM includes members who specialize solely in non-surgical sports medicine and serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS and NHL, as well as with Olympic and Paralympic teams. By nature of their training and experience, sports medicine physicians are ideally suited to provide comprehensive medical care for athletes, sports teams or active individuals who are simply looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. www.amssm.org