To our Donors, Grant Recipients, Partners and Communities:
OREF wishes to acknowledge the pain and hardship that many are experiencing during these extraordinary and troubling times. As a health care research organization, we recognize that by ourselves, we cannot solve the medical, economic and cultural crises we are facing today. However, recent events have underscored what we can and must do.
- Ensure that OREF policies support equitable practices in administering our grant program and in our relationships with donors, volunteers, staff, partners and vendors.
- Support health care equality for all people. Our board and staff are dedicated to funding musculoskeletal medical research to benefit all humanity.
- Stand with those who advocate for equal justice for all, and together, listen to those who offer solutions to the evil of racism. Together, we must advocate that those who have the power to implement those solutions use that power and implement those solutions immediately.
OREF is proud of our history and reputation for supporting quality musculoskeletal research and the collaborative processes we utilize to achieve this. We are particularly proud of our tradition of supporting research based on its merit and without bias, encouraging diversity and promoting equal opportunity for all. Ensuring that all of our constituents, be they investigators, donors, partners, volunteers or grant recipients, have a voice in how OREF manages its grant program is critically important to us.
We are equally proud to associate ourselves with those dedicated to supporting diversity and equity in our communities and join with all in the effort to eradicate racism in this country and the world. We thank and support all of our orthopaedic partners who have expressed similar feelings.
Our hearts go out to all those affected by these events and we hope this message finds everyone safe and ready for better times in a changed world that supports equality, justice and the best medical care for all.
Sincerely,
Richard F. Kyle, MD Thomas P. Sculco, MD Michael L. Parks
President President-Elect Past President