About
Dr. Burnikel received his undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the University of Iowa and attended medical school at the University of Iowa College of Medicine. His orthopedic training was at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine from 1990-1995. He started practice with a private group where he specialized in Adult Reconstruction. In 2006, he joined Steadman Hawkins of the Carolinas/Prisma Health-Upstate. He has worked with the orthopedic residency program since 1998, providing residents with clinical experience and serving as Curriculum Director for Adult Reconstruction. He started the Total Joint Fellowship in 2008 and served as the director until 2017. His division participates in total joint retrieval for the Clemson Bioengineering department. These implants are analyzed and housed at the Patewood Campus Engineering Program. He has worked with Dr. Jeremy Mercuri, Director of the Laboratory of Orthopaedic Tissue Regeneration & Orthobiologics, on the study of amniotic mesenchemal cells mitigation of osteoarthritis progression. They also have two current amniotic clinical trials underway in our division. He has also worked with two successful BioEngineering senior design teams that have won both Regional and National competitions. He is currently serving on a graduate student’s Master Thesis committee. He is also a clinical associate professor at the USC School of Medicine, Greenville, and an adjunct assistant professor of Bioengineering in the Clemson University College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences. For more information, see his Curriculum Vitae.
How their research is transforming health care
Throughout his practice he has seen the devastating effects that arthritis has on patients and their families. Robbing them of activities they enjoy doing and even limiting their activities of daily living. There have been tremendous advancements in joint replacement surgeries, which have greatly improved patients’ quality of life, but they are not without potential complications and limitations. A significant amount of time, money and effort has been devoted to the development of medications and procedures to treat the disease process. Some of his current research is looking at ways of mitigating the disease process and progression and hopefully can help future patients avoid the need for joint replacement or other invasive surgical procedures.
Health research keywords
Hip replacement, knee replacement, arthritis, osteoarthritis, amniotic, cartilage, wear
