Biographical Sketch

James (Jimi) Cook received a BS degree from Florida State University in 1988. After a short career as a professional water skier, he completed the DVM degree in 1994 at the University of Missouri. He then went on to a small animal rotating internship at the University of Minnesota. He returned to the University of Missouri in 1995 for a dual PhD-Small Animal Surgery Residency program. He completed his PhD in Pathobiology in 1998 and became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1999. His PhD research involved developing a unique in vitro system of chondrocyte culture for studying osteoarthritis. In 1999, he co-founded the Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory at the University of Missouri, which is a research laboratory involving the College of Veterinary Medicine, The School of Medicine, and The College of Engineering. More than 25 scientists are currently involved in this laboratory’s research in the areas of osteoarthritis, tissue engineering, and articular cartilage physiology. He has numerous peer-reviewed publications to his credit in both the veterinary and human medical literature. He has received extensive funding for his research, including grants from The National Institutes of Health, The Orthopaedic Trauma Association, The Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. He has received numerous awards including the Orthopaedic Research Society’s New Investigator Recognition Award, the Norden Distinguished Teacher Award, The Bloomberg Memorial Research Award, The Hohn-Johnson Research Award, The Bojrab Research Award, The MU Graduate and Professional Council Gold Chalk Award, and The University of Missouri Superior Graduate Achievement Award. His clinical interests are in arthroscopy, minimally invasive fracture repair, orthopaedic tissue engineering, and total joint replacement, and he holds one US patent for a canine total elbow replacement system. He regularly speaks at major national and international meetings. He currently has a dual appointment at the University of Missouri in Small Animal Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery (human), and is the Director of The Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory.