Jo Ann Hardy has always been a woman on the move. She spent many years keeping active, both professionally and personally. Her professional demands in the travel business require her to escort tour groups and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. In her free time, Jo Ann has always volunteered time to her community, quite often spending long amounts of time on her feet.

Although an active person, Jo Ann suffers from a condition that she shares with more than 40 million Americans--osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis leads to pain, deformity and loss of joint motion as protective cartilage within the joints is damaged and leaves the bone exposed. It is also the most common form of arthritis and disproportionately affects women. Moreover, it is a leading cause of disability worldwide.

Osteoarthritis necessitates lifestyle changes as it progresses. Jo Ann found that she became less able to overcome mobility challenges. Climbing stairs and getting around became difficult, and as Jo Ann describes, "It became increasingly difficult to even get up out of a chair."

Fortunately, Jo Ann's mobility issues and pain disappeared after she had bilateral total knee replacement surgery in May 2003. The surgery was followed by 30 days of outpatient therapy. Jo Ann says she's had an "incredible improvement." She has even been able to increase her activity level without pain.

Jo Ann has been able to reclaim her busy life. She hopes that "as our population ages, advances in research in orthopaedics will enable patients to be more active and productive citizens, and contain health care costs."

By the year 2010, one-third of the American population will be 50 or older. Because osteoarthritis affects nearly half of the elderly and one quarter of the population between the ages of 45 and 64, more research is clearly needed. Future osteoarthritis research is needed to study the interaction of materials and wear; to examine the genetic, biological and mechanical factors influencing the progression of arthritis; and to examine the bioengineering approaches to tissue regeneration, with an emphasis on cartilage repair.