William Harris, MD, received a lifetime achievement award from Orthopaedic Summit Evolving Techniques, a nonprofit organization focused on education.
Dr. Harris, 94, is the founder and director emeritus of Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital's Harris Orthopaedics Laboratory, according to Sept. 28 news release from OSET. He invented the Harris Hip Score for evaluating hip replacement outcomes.
During his career he also discovered a way to prevent deep vein thrombosis after hip surgery, saving lives. His work led to the development of a prosthetic bearing surface prolonging the life of total joint implants.
"In addition to caring for countless patients, Dr. Harris also changed the way in which we approach hip replacements today due to his relentless pursuit to make us aware of the fact that bone loss around total hip implants was not the result of cement disease but rather caused by polyethylene wear debris and, ultimately, his tireless research in the development of highly cross-linked polyethylene," orthopedic surgeon Wayne Paprosky, MD, who presented the award, said in the release.