History

The Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory was established in 1979 by Augustus A. White III, MD, then Chief of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and by Wilson C. Hayes, PhD, Laboratory Director. From 1979 to 1983, the Laboratory occupied 800 square feet of a converted research surgical suite on the third floor of the Slosberg-Landay Building. In 1983, the Laboratory moved to 3,800 square feet of new research space on the seventh floor of the Dana Research Building. 

A major expansion became possible when, in 1988, funds donated by Maurice E. Müller were used to establish the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory under the directorship of the first Müller Professor, Wilson Hayes, PhD. This became one of the leading laboratories in the field and the first Biomechanics endowed chair in the country. In April of 1994, the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory moved to Research North, a new $18 million research facility providing 110,000 square foot of research space on three floors of state-of-the-art laboratories and conference rooms, located at 99 Brookline Avenue. 

Dr. Hayes left BIDMC in 1998 and the Müller Chair fell vacant until 2008, when biologist Christopher Evans, PhD, was recruited to this position. To reflect the greater research scope now represented in the laboratory, it was ambitiously renamed the Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies (CAOS). Our goal is to build upon previous successes and to develop programs commensurate with this designation.