Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again: Neven and BMX

Regenexx’s Cheif Scientific Officier, Neven Steinmetz, is a world-class BMX bike racer and that fact has often collided with age and other bikers to provide a great example of what interventional orthobiologics can accomplish. Despite many injuries in this sometimes roller derby on dirt sport, she just recently won the BMX Grand Nationals in her age group! Let’s dig in.

Regenexx and Research

Most patients and physicians take for granted that Regenexx is lead by real specialist medical doctors and qualified scientists. For example, most device and tissue companies are run by business guys, and if they have any employees, they are focused on sales or pumping out new devices or tissues. Few have any science staff on the payroll who could actually perform experiments on what these devices produce or what these tissues do or how to optimize them. Why? It’s expensive and hoovers up cash.

The same holds true with companies that claim to be provider networks. It’s very rare to see any scientists at all that work for the network. That’s despite more science being needed in regenerative medicine. Again, the same reasons apply.

Regenexx has a PH.D. lab and clinical research teams with a real medical subject matter expert supervising it all. That group has published dozens of actual scientific papers over the last decade and a half. Neven Steinmetz, Ph.D. is our chief scientist who also happens to be a world-class BMX bike racer.

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Neven’s Story

Neven got her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado and then went to Scotland to perform post-doctoral work on mesenchymal stem cells. She then made her way back to Colorado to work as our lead scientist. Years ago I kept noticing her limping or with a splint after returning from short vacations. It didn’t take long as a physician asking about her injuries to learn that the common denominator was BMX bike racing.

This is a sport, as you’ll see from the video below, that’s like a sprint on dirt with small bikes. Add in ramps and hills and make it last about a minute and it all gets pretty nasty at times. After hearing Neven describe it, depending on the level of aggressiveness in your competition, getting “taken out” by another biker is not uncommon. So when you take over 40 women and line them up side by side 8 across at various tracks all over the world, you sometimes get roller derby on dirt with bikes.

So how do you keep a 40 something who keeps coming back from these competitions limping or nursing an injury going? Well luckily for Neven, she has an entire crew of expert physicians just upstairs from her lab that can use her blood platelets and stem cells to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. In fact, I’ve lost count of all of the injuries and procedures that Neven has needed! However, suffice it to say that like Evel Knievel, I’m pretty sure we’ve treated almost every joint and part of her spine!

Neven’s Email

Hi All,

Here is a link to the video of my race win at the BMX Grand Nationals over Thanksgiving (earning a 7′ tall trophy! haha). Luckily, I didn’t have any “altercations”…

Thanks again for all the help that everyone continues to give me to help me be healthy enough to keep racing bikes! 🙂

Cheers,
Neven”

Here’s her race:

The upshot? What we often do is to keep weekend warriors and elite athletes going when age and injuries get in the way. In addition, we’re very proud of Neven’s scientific prowess and her BMX skills! In a way, it’s fitting that the orthobiologics she helps us create and optimize will keep her heading back to the track for many more years.

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile

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NOTE: This blog post provides general information to help the reader better understand regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal health, and related subjects. All content provided in this blog, website, or any linked materials, including text, graphics, images, patient profiles, outcomes, and information, are not intended and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always consult with a professional and certified healthcare provider to discuss if a treatment is right for you.

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