Leadership Team
Larry Moreland, MD
Visiting Professor, Rheumatology and Orthopedics
Director, CUIJBP
Dr. Moreland has been in academics for over 30 years. While a faculty member at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (1990 to 2007) he developed the Arthritic Clinical
Intervention Program and was lead investigator for many of the early clinical trials with biologics for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). From July 2007 to May 2020 Dr. Moreland was Chief of the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the
University of Pittsburgh. He recently joined the University of Colorado faculty in May of 2020.
Michael Zuscik, PhD
Mack Clayton Professor
Vice Chair Research, Orthopedics
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V. Michael Holers, MD
Professor
Division Head, Rheumatology
Dr. Holers research group performs both basic and translational research. A longstanding interest has been to decipher the roles of the complement system, including its pathways and effectors, in the immune response, with a special emphasis on developing novel tissue targeted inhibitors for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Candidate therapeutics derived from these studies have been advanced to clinical trials in humans. A second area of emphasis is on the natural history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with the goal to understand, and then develop methods to interrupt, causal drivers of this disease from the preclinical stage of autoimmunity alone through to the development of inflammatory arthritis.
Jennifer Seifert, MPH
Program Manager, CUIJBP
Jennifer Seifert is the program manager of several research projects at the University of Colorado, which include the newly-founded CUIJBP and the NIH-sponsored initiative, the Accelerated Medicines Partnership (AMP) in arthritis and lupus research. She received her Master’s degree from the University of Colorado School of Public Health and enjoys employing epidemiologic principles to the study of chronic diseases, specifically, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.
Lacey Favazzo, PhD
Instructor, Orthopedics
Director, CUIJBP Biorepository
Dr. Favazzo trained as a microbiologist and is dedicated to bringing high quality microbiological research to orthopedics. Working with Dr. Michael Zuscik, key research interests include: exploring the relationships between the gut microbiome, host immune system, and musculoskeletal diseases; the role of the microbial metabolome in the development of osteoarthritis; and development of microbiome centered treatments of osteoarthritis.
Cheryl Ackert-Bicknell, PhD
Associate Professor, Orthopedics
Rachel Frank, MD
Director of the Joint Preservation Program
Associate Professor, Orthopedics
Dr. Frank is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist who focuses on the surgical and non-surgical management of knee, shoulder, and elbow injuries. Currently, Dr. Frank serves as an Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is Director of the Joint Preservation Program at the University of Colorado, and is team physician for the Colorado Rapids professional soccer team. Dr. Frank has authored or co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, over 50 book chapters, and presents her research both nationally and internationally at orthopaedic conferences and meetings every year.
Michael Clay, MD
Director Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology
CUIJBP Pathologist
Associate Professor
Dr. Clay is a dual board certified anatomic and molecular pathologist for the adult and children's hospitals at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He is the director of the bone and soft tissue service at the UCH adult hospital. He also collaborates with the molecular pathology group at the Children's Hospital of Colorado.