Interview with Prof. Antonia F. Chen: please never give up as long as you love what you are doing

Editor’s note

On Feb 28, 2019, Antonia F. Chen from Brigham and Women’s Hospital came to Nanjing to have a brief academic exchange with domestic peers on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) (Figure 1). We were honored to invite Prof. Chen, who is currently the Director of Research, Arthroplasty Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School, to have an interview with us, sharing her experience in the field of orthopaedic infection.

Figure 1 A photo of Prof. Chen and domestic peers.

Expert’s introduction

Antonia F. Chen (Figure 2) is an accomplished orthopaedic surgeon and researcher. She is currently the Director of Research, Arthroplasty Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. She was the Associate Director of Research at the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, an Associate Professor at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, and the Director of Medical Education Curriculum, Musculoskeletal Studies at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University. She received her BS from Yale University and her MD from Rutgers Medical School, where she graduated with Distinction in Research and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Antonia received her MBA from Rutgers Business School and is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. She completed her orthopaedic residency at the University of Pittsburgh and her fellowship in hip and knee arthroplasty at the Rothman Institute. She is on the editorial board of 6 journals, and is the president of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society. She has authored over 100 publications, 35 book chapters, and 2 books, has won multiple research awards, and has presented all over the world.

Figure 2 Prof. Antonia F. Chen.

Interview

AOJ: Would you briefly summarize the key points of the treatment for PJI for the experts who did not have the opportunity to attend this meeting?

Prof. Chen: The key points are to prevent infection if possible while doing the primary total joint replacement, diagnose PJI appropriately, treat PJI well by selecting the right surgical treatment regimen (DAIR, one- or two-stage), and ensure appropriate biofilm treatment with physical and chemical disruption.

AOJ: What sort of ongoing projects do you have in this area?

Prof. Chen: We are conducting multiple clinical studies examining institutional and international trends of PJI, the genetics associated with PJI, sampling techniques, and biofilm development on polyethylene.

AOJ: How did you become involved in the research of orthopaedic, and how would you describe the particular challenges, setbacks, and successes you’ve encountered along the way?

Prof. Chen: I became interested in research because I wanted to engage in something that could change the field and improve the lives of our patients. I started doing research as an undergraduate student in university, but didn’t do orthopaedic clinical research until I was a medical student. The biggest challenges in research are choosing a good topic and completing the study. I have had multiple studies rejected from journals—but the key is to not give up. With persistence, hard work and time, I’ve been able to publish many articles and continue to seek further knowledge to improve patients’ lives.

AOJ: What would be your suggestions for the college students who are pouring their lives into this filed?

Prof. Chen: Don’t give up. You may end up pursuing a field that you don’t expect, but as long as you love what you are doing, that’s what matters.

Acknowledgments

On behalf of the editorial office of Annals of Joint (AOJ), I would like to extend my gratitude to Prof. Chen for sharing her opinions with us.

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the Editorial Office, Annals of Joint for the series “Meet the Professor”. The article did not undergo external peer review.

Conflict of Interest: The author has completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/aoj.2019.03.01). The series “Meet the Professor” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. CMY reports that she is a full-time employer of AME Publishing Company (publisher of the journal).The author has no other conflicts of interest to declare

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

(Science Editor: Crystal M. Yan, AOJ, aoj@amegroups.com)