Biography

Sanjeev (Sanj) Kakar, M.D., treats all conditions affecting the hand, wrist and forearm. His research is in the areas of ligament injuries of the wrist, fracture care, arthritis, tumors and cancers, and Dupuytren's disease.
Focus areas

• Wrist ligament injury. Using innovative CT scanning to diagnose ligament injury, as well as using stem cells and scaffolds to develop a new ligament to repair injuries.
• Thumb arthritis. Using real-time CT scanning to better understand and treat thumb arthritis.
• Dupuytren's disease. Using molecular biology to improve the understanding of genes involved in Dupuytren's disease and designing new treatments to prevent the disease.
• Tumors. Developing an improved method to classify hand tumors and being able to predict which tumors may or may not fracture the bone.

Significance to patient care
The goal of Dr. Kakar's research is to improve the method by which certain conditions are diagnosed, such as wrist ligament injuries. This may help patients avoid having unneeded surgeries.
For those patients who do undergo surgery, Dr. Kakar and his colleagues are using new techniques, including those that use a patient's own cells to repair the injured structures.
Professional highlights

• Research Award, AO North America, 2012
• Research Award, American Society for Surgery of the Hand, 2011