Albert Lasker
Clinical Medical Research Award
John Charnley
For his conceptual and technical contributions to total hip joint replacement, which have opened new horizons of research and treatment in arthritis and crippling joint diseases.
Combining his talents as an orthopaedic surgeon and biomedical engineer, Professor Charnley conducted original laboratory and clinical research in joint lubrication and biomedical characteristics of joint opposition.
The investigations, which took place in the 1950s, led to the development of a revolutionary design of a total hip-joint replacement and the introduction of the use of methyl-methacrylate as a plastic cement to firmly affix the prosthetic components to the bone.
While the pioneering work on joint prosthetics, going back to 1908, cannot be ignored, the present advances were made possible by Professor Charnley's unique concepts. The techniques and concepts which he introduced in 1961 have given patients pain-free hips and restored normal living to tens of thousands of patients throughout the world.
It is estimated that 50,000 Charnley-type hip operations are performed annually and that anywhere from 3 to 5 million persons in the United States alone, with arthritis or other allied conditions, could potentially benefit from this operation.
For his combination of engineering skill and clinical acumen, and for his development of the concept and technique of total hip joint replacement in the treatment of severe arthritis which has opened, throughout the world, new horizons of research, treatment and rehabilitation in painful and crippling joint diseases, this 1974 Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award is given.