Jaimo Ahn

About

Jaimo Ahn, MD, PhD, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and an attending orthopaedic surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA. He serves as the Assistant Director of the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program and is Co-Director of Penn Orthopaedic Trauma and Fracture Reconstruction. Dr. Ahn's research interests focus on the outcomes of orthopaedic trauma and fracture treatment, as well as the molecular enhancement of bone formation and fracture healing. He works with interdisciplinary teams including biologists, engineers, surgeons, veterinarians, and clinical investigators to improve orthopaedic care. His scientific work delves into gene regulation in bone healing, utilizing mouse models to study pathways related to thrombospondins, Wnt, and Notch, with particular attention to geriatric conditions such as fractures and bone loss. Additionally, Dr. Ahn investigates medical decision-making paradigms, analyzing orthopaedic outcomes data and exploring evidence-based medicine to refine clinical decision processes. He is also dedicated to advancing medical education, especially for clinician-scientists, advocating for data-driven training and resource allocation from undergraduate through graduate levels. His contributions aim to enhance patient care, surgical outcomes, and the training of future medical scientists.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Pathology
• Cancer research
• Biology
• Cell biology
• Endocrinology
• Family medicine
• Anatomy
• Immunology
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Single cell transcriptomics identifies a unique adipose lineage cell population that regulates bone marrow environment

  eLife · 2020 · 342 citations

  Bone marrow mesenchymal lineage cells are a heterogeneous cell population involved in bone homeostasis and diseases such as osteoporosis. While it is long postulated that they originate from mesenchymal stem cells, the true identity of progenitors and their in vivo bifurcated differentiation routes into osteoblasts and adipocytes remain poorly understood. Here, by employing large scale single cell transcriptome analysis, we computationally defined mesenchymal progenitors at different stages and…

  DOI

• Bone marrow adipogenic lineage precursors promote osteoclastogenesis in bone remodeling and pathologic bone loss

  Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2020 · 203 citations

  Bone is maintained by coupled activities of bone-forming osteoblasts/osteocytes and bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Alterations in this relationship can lead to pathologic bone loss such as osteoporosis. It is well known that osteogenic cells support osteoclastogenesis via production of RANKL. Interestingly, our recently identified bone marrow mesenchymal cell population-marrow adipogenic lineage precursors (MALPs) that form a multidimensional cell network in bone-was computationally demonstrated to…

  DOI

• Targeting cartilage EGFR pathway for osteoarthritis treatment

  Science Translational Medicine · 2021 · 175 citations

  Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widespread joint disease for which there are no disease-modifying treatments. Previously, we found that mice with cartilage-specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) deficiency developed accelerated knee OA. To test whether the EGFR pathway can be targeted as a potential OA therapy, we constructed two cartilage-specific EGFR overactivation models in mice by overexpressing heparin binding EGF-like growth factor (HBEGF), an EGFR ligand. Compared to wild type, Col2-C…

  DOI

• What are the effects of early versus delayed weight-bearing following surgical fixation of ankle fractures in adults?

  Cochrane Clinical Answers · 2025-06-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• What are the effects of alendronate for the primary and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women?

  Cochrane Clinical Answers · 2025-07-24

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R03AG040670

  NIH · $160k · 2014

Frequent coauthors

• Mara L. Schenker

  143 shared

• Robert L. Mauck

  Philadelphia VA Medical Center

  132 shared

• Samir Mehta

  121 shared

• Joseph Bernstein

  University of Pennsylvania

  63 shared

• David L. Helfet

  Cornell University

  50 shared

• Mark L. Prasarn

  Methodist Hospital

  49 shared

• Dean G. Lorich

  Cornell University

  45 shared

• Yulong Wei

  Union Hospital

  36 shared

Labs

• Orthopaedic Surgery, University of PennsylvaniaPI

Education

• MD, PhD

  University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

• BS

  Stanford University

Similar researchers at University of Pennsylvania

• John Q. Trojanowskih-296
• Craig B. Thompsonh-277
• Daniel J Raderh-236