Clifford Les

About this team member

Dr.Les is head of the Anatomy Section of the Bone and Joint Center, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit. His research program is concentrated in examining the interactions between material properties, microstructure, and macrostructure of bone. We have identified regional variations in the materials and mechanical properties of bone that affect the way the bone organ deforms under normal use, and have characterized changes in these variations that accompany estrogen depletion (e.g. menopause) and replacement, unloading, short-term tissue injury, and changes in nutritional status.

In addition, Dr Les is involved in work with other members of the SE Michigan orthopaedics research community in examining the changes in local kinematics that lead to osteoarthritis in the ACL-deficient knee, the cellular effects of local treatment of giant cell tumors, the use of stem cells as delivery systems for gene therapy in the treatment of articular fractures, the mechanisms of early growth-plate closure, the effect of light exposure, calendar season, and Vitamin D on the viscoelastic properties of bone material and structure, and the functional damping characteristics of equine fetlock joint tissues.

To examine the mechanisms behind these normal phenomena and disease processes, Dr.Les and his team of researchers make use of microscopic imaging of bone, viscoelastic mechanical testing of bone materials and structure, and bulk analysis of mineral and cytokines within bone and other musculoskeletal tissues.

Dr. Les continues to serve the veterinary community in the field of regulatory veterinary medicine, taking part in recent efforts to control Foot-and-Mouth Disease in northern England and Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin, and is a member of the Michigan Veterinary Corps, a network of Michigan veterinarians trained in the rapid response to outbreaks of large animal infectious diseases. He serves as an orthopaedic research consultant to the AO Foundation in Switzerland, the Austrian Fund for Animals, the British Horseracing Levy Board, the University of Guelph, and the National Institutes of Health, and holds faculty positions at Colorado State University, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University.

Publications

• Nanoscale Structure of type I collagen fibrils:  Quantitative measurement of D-spacing B. Erickson, M. Fang, J. M. Wallace, B. G. Orr, C. M. Les, M. M. Banaszak Holl Biotechnology Journal 2013 8 117-126