Amazing Alumnus:

Carl Brighton ’53, College of Arts and Sciences

Current life role:  Paul B. Magnuson Professor Emeritus, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

When Carl Brighton’s wife, Ruth (Krentz, ’53), had hip replacement surgery several years ago, it changed his entire research direction. Until then, Brighton’s distinguished medical career had focused on bone research (looking at bone formation and stubborn bone fractures that will not heal). But after three weeks at home helping Ruth recover, he turned his considerable expertise—and that of his lab at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school—to cartilage. 

The goal

One of the hottest topics in medicine right now is the unsolved problem of degenerative arthritis. With more of us living longer, the cartilage padding our critical joints (knees, hips, shoulders) is simply wearing out. This means more joint replacement surgeries each year—a dramatic “fix” for the problem—or a regimen of medications that address joint pain but not the root issue: worn-out cartilage. 

Enter Brighton and his team of molecular scientists. Though he has officially retired from teaching in—and chairing—the department of Orthopaedic Surgery, he maintains a lab with four full-time researchers. Brighton wanted to find a way to rebuild cartilage, rather than numbing the pain or scraping it out and replacing it with plastic hardware.

For the past several years the group has examined how the body makes or destroys cartilage cells. They have been able to pick out the genes responsible for cartilage formation, and have learned how to activate those genes by simulating the kind of electronic signals the body naturally “sees” or experiences.

The rewards

“Ruth’s hip surgery really refocused me,” Brighton says. “It’s exciting to be in on the ground floor. I really enjoy taking research to the edge of knowledge in a given area.  Then it’s like plunging out into the unknown, which I kind of find exhilarating.”

This fall, Brighton’s team will likely approach the FDA about initiating clinical studies to continue pushing ahead with their line of cartilage research. “My greatest reward will be if, in the not too distant future, we can transfer this technology from the laboratory to the patient.”