Our Researchers

Frederick S. Kaplan, M.D.

Frederick S. Kaplan, M.D., is the Isaac and Rose Nassau Professor of Orthopaedic Molecular Medicine and Chief of the Division of Metabolic Bone Diseases and Molecular Orthopaedics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. An alumnus of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Kaplan was Chief Resident in Orthopaedics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 1980 to 1981. It was here at Penn’s McKay Laboratory of Orthopaedic Surgery Research that he was introduced to basic scientific investigations of the musculoskeletal system.

Kaplan's subsequent exposure to molecular biology and human genetics as the John A. Hartford Research Fellow from 1989 to 1991 in the laboratory of his mentor and friend Dr. Michael Zasloff, provided the stimulus for his long-held interest in probing the molecular pathophysiology of skeletal disorders. This direction led to his exploration of the mechanisms for bone formation and for identifying the molecular pathology of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) and identifying another bone disorder of children, progressive osseous heteroplasia (POH). He now leads the only center dedicated to such disorders, the Center for Research in FOP and Related Disorders.

Kaplan has received numerous awards and honors from his colleagues, patient groups, and others, including Best Doctors in America (2002) and Hero of the Year Award; The Elementary School, Victor, Iowa (2002). He holds several ongoing grants from the National Institutes of Health and research endowments, which help continue his FOP and POH research. He has authored hundreds of papers in peer-reviewed journals, books and books chapters, and other publications. Kaplan also is an award-winning mentor and teacher.

Eileen M. Shore, Ph.D.

Eileen M. Shore, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedics and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Since 1991, Shore has dedicated her research to the molecular and genetic causes of human genetic bone disorders, namely fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) and progressive osseous heteroplasia (POH). Her particular interest is the genetic regulation of bone and cartilage cell differentiation.

Shore received her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Penn and did postdoctoral work at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia before joining the faculty of the Penn Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1993. She received a secondary appointment in the Department of Genetics in 1996. In 1998, she became the Co-Director of the Center for Research in FOP and Related Disorders at Penn.

She holds several ongoing grants including ones from the National Institutes of Health and the International FOP Association, which explore the molecular genetics and development of cell and animal models for FOP and POH. Over the years she has been the recipient of several awards in her field, including a Johnson & Johnson Focused Giving Award and an Advances in Mineral Metabolism Investigator Award. Shore has published over 75 review and original peer-reviewed articles and is an Editorial Board Member of The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Information courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.