event Archives

On Friday, Jan. 23, LuskinOIC hosted a dinner reception to honor the creation of the new Harry A. McKellop, Ph.D., Excellence in Research and Innovation Award. Presented on behalf of the J. Vernon Luck, Sr., M.D., Biomechanics Research Center at LuskinOIC, the award recognizes outstanding achievement and forward-thinking leadership in research.

Before establishing the McKellop Award, LuskinOIC presented the G. June Marshall Award, named in honor of the research center’s first director. To continue that legacy of revolutionary orthopaedic research, the JVL Research Center has introduced this new award honoring Dr. Harry McKellop.

Dr. McKellop served at the JVL Research Center from 1980 until his retirement in 2014. During that time, he held multiple leadership roles, including Director of the Biomechanics Laboratory, Director of the Research Center, and eventually Vice President of Orthopaedic Hospital. For his research on wear and tear on artificial joints, Dr. McKellop was awarded numerous patents and received prestigious awards, such as the Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Under his leadership, the JVL Research Center became, and remains, one of the world’s most prominent and renowned orthopaedic research institutions.

The 2025 McKellop Award recipient is Dr. Jenna Wahbeh, Ph.D. Dr. Wahbeh joined LuskinOIC in 2019 as a volunteer and later became a researcher, Ph.D. candidate, and lab manager at the JVL Research Center. Over five years, she published groundbreaking research addressing critical gaps in orthopaedics and mentored more than 30 high school and college students. During her time as a Ph.D. candidate, Dr. Wahbeh received the ORS Spine Section Travel Fellowship and the UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship. In March 2025, Dr. Wahbeh successfully defended her dissertation, which focused on evaluating cervical disc replacements to improve clinical outcomes.

The evening was attended by past and present JVL Research Center researchers, LuskinOIC leadership and staff, and honored guests. Dr. James Luck Jr. gave a history of LuskinOIC and the Research Center, while Dr. Edward Ebramzadeh reflected on Dr. McKellop and his time with LuskinOIC. Dr. McKellop then spoke about his own experience before introducing this year’s awardee, Dr. Wahbeh. Dr. Wahbeh closed the evening by thanking the JVL Research Center for the recognition and reflecting on her time at LuskinOIC.

LuskinOIC 2nd Annual Cerebral Palsy Camp Was an Incredible Success!

From July 17-19, more than 100 individuals gathered from all over Southern California at our summer camp for kids with cerebral palsy. The specialty camp was designed and operated by the LuskinOIC Department of Rehabilitation, led by Director Chris Caron, Brianna Garcia, and Sera Cho. The camp featured three days of inclusive activities, including community building, adapted sports, arts and crafts, and daily sessions in our water park within our accessible playground provided by the Every Child Foundation.

LuskinOIC had the pleasure of hosting 20 individuals with cerebral palsy and their families, along with more than 50 aspiring clinicians who made the event possible. This group of OT/PT/medical students had the opportunity to work hands-on with the campers to develop their understanding of the world’s most common lifelong disability under the tutelage of the LuskinOIC rehab staff.

Events like these wouldn’t be possible without deep community partnerships. Special thanks are in order for Alexis Madrid, Alvin Malave, and the entire team at Angel City Sports; Kevin Finkelberg at USTA; ROAR Organics; and UCLA Women’s Basketball led by Charlisse Leger-Walker. Our deepest gratitude goes to the entire LuskinOIC community for making events like these possible.