Dr. James Cook

The Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory (COL) at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine recently received about $750,000 in gifts to fund the lab's groundbreaking arthritis research.

The laboratory was presented more than $500,000 from The IAMS Company to fund a research assistant professor position. The $320,000 gift from Robert and Judi Reeves of Columbia, Mo. will establish the Robert and Judi Reeves Endowment in Arthritis Diagnostics. It will fund projects, personnel, and equipment directly related to trying to discover ways to diagnose arthritis before it is symptomatic and still reversible or curable.

"The IAMS gift is absolutely vital to our growth and success," said Dr. James Cook, director of the lab, professor of veterinary medicine and surgery, and William C. Allen Endowed Scholar for Orthopaedic Research. "We have chosen to use the money to fund a research assistant professor who will focus on understanding and diagnosing arthritis toward finding a cure. The position is at the heart of the lab's mission and work, and allows us to really be on the leading edge of orthopedic research," he said.

Dr. Cook said the Reeves gift will help the COL find molecular and imaging markers that tell if arthritis is going to occur, what joints it will involve, and how bad it would be. “This is very exciting work as it could completely revolutionize medicine and treatment of arthritis,” Dr. Cook said.

One of the major benefits of the endowments, Dr. Cook said, is that it will help fund preliminary work that researchers hope will lead to larger grants. The lab is one of only a handful of comparative orthopedic laboratories in the world dedicated to arthritis research.

The IAMS gift will be split into payments made over a five year period. IAMS, a division of Procter & Gamble and leading provider of pet foods and pet care products, became interested in supporting the COL because of the lab's use of in vitro models for the study of osteoarthritis--a method that avoids the use of research animals while still offering useful, relevant, and timely data.

Robert Reeves said he and his wife wanted to establish their endowment because the research conducted in the lab has the ability to cause sweeping changes in diagnosis and treatment of arthritis. Mr. Reeves himself has had arthritis troubles in his knees, and many of his family and friends have been severely debilitated by arthritis.

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