Orthopaedic research at McMaster University has grown steadily under the mentorship of
CEO’s Executive Director and Founder, Dr. Mohit Bhandari. Under the guidance of Dr.
Gordon Guyatt, Dr. Bhandari, with support from Sheila Sprague and others at CEO, initiated
the SPRINT trial in 1999. The SPRINT trial, which compared reamed versus unreamed
intramedullary nails in over 1,200 tibial shaft fracture patients, was conducted at 29 clinical
sites in Canada, the USA, and the Netherlands. This landmark trial led a paradigm shift in
how orthopaedic research is conducted and established a new benchmark for all future
clinical research in orthopaedic surgery.
Building upon SPRINT, the CEO team initiated several other large multi-centre trials in the
field of orthopaedic trauma. In recent years, the research focus within CEO expanded from
a trauma focus to include multiple other orthopaedic disciplines, including sports medicine,
oncology, and upper extremity care. From its humble beginnings with Dr. Bhandari and one
Research Coordinator, CEO has grown into a team of over 20 Faculty Members and over 20
Research Coordinators and Research Assistants. CEO continues to conduct successful and
high-quality research through collaborations with researchers within and outside of
McMaster. These partnerships leverage the knowledge and experience of leading
researchers around the globe, strengthening our research questions, methodology and
knowledge translation.