Robert B. Gordon Arthritis Research Fellowship

The Robert B. Gordon Arthritis Research Fellowship was established in 2001 in honor of director Dr. Jimi Cook’s grandfather, whose long battle with primary osteoarthritis inspired Dr. Cook’s research focus, and subsequently this lab.

The fellowship is a 1–3 year program involving clinical and/or basic science research in arthritis. Successful applicants for this position are individuals who are enrolled in or have completed doctoral degree programs (DVM, PhD, MD, DO) and have an interest and focus in arthritis research. The Robert B. Gordon Arthritis Fellows have been:

• Prakash Jayabalan, 2001
• Mike Hughes, 2002
• Prakash Jayabalan, 2003
• Aaron Stoker, 2004
• Jill Luther, 2005
• Nicole Waters, 2006–2007
• Prakash Jayabalan, 2007–2010
• Cole Linville, 2011
• Sam Franklin, 2012
• Farrah Monibi, 2013-2016
• Sebastian Cardona Ramirez, 2017
• Bree Baker, 2019-2021
• Kylee Rucinski, 2022
• Jonathan Williams, 2023

All of these fellows have been outstanding and have contributed significantly to the work of the COL and arthritis research. We currently are able to support our fellows with the endowment, which is a tremendous boost for our program of research and training. We have been blessed with truly exceptional individuals in this fellowship. They are brilliant, hardworking, and talented, which has allowed them to be extremely productive! We are very proud of their work and thrilled to have them as our Gordon Fellows.

The Gordon Family Endowment will continue to fund this fellowship position, as well as support projects of other researchers in the COL, who are working on understanding, treating, and curing arthritis.The endowment’s support of the fellowship and other personnel in the laboratory, and purchase and maintenance of supplies and equipment is absolutely vital to our mission and integral to our success. We have had tremendous financial support from donors to continue this work, which has resulted in excellent contributions to science and productivity in the battle against arthritis.

In order to continue to expand this program, we will need to obtain donations from individuals, corporations, and agencies. If you are interested in supporting this program, you can send donations to:

All donations are tax deductible. Please specify that your donation be used for the Gordon Family Endowment for Arthritis Research through the Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory. We sincerely appreciate any gift and your support in helping us attain our goals.