When University of Delaware alumna Martha Meaney Murray, MD, EG87, learned that the medical community lacked a successful procedure for repairing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear—an injury that, according to the Center for Disease Control, annually affects as many as 250,000 individuals, including  professional athletes—she set out to determine why.

“The medical field had quickly moved to replacement of the torn ligament,” Murray says. But replacing the ACL (also called ACL reconstruction) comes with its downfalls, including months of rehabilitation to regain strength from where the tissue used to replace the ACL is taken. For professional athletes, that time on the bench is a huge thorn in the side for their career and their teams’ seasons—not to mention the disappointment of fans.

With funding from the NFL Players Association and other investors, Murray’s procedure to repair— instead of replace—torn ligaments started clinical trials in 2015.

It all began at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she pioneered the Bridge-Enhanced ACL Repair, or BEAR, a minimally invasive procedure that uses stitches and a surgical implant to bridge the gap in the torn ligament, allowing the ligament to regrow itself through the body’s naturally regenerating healing process.

In 2016, Murray established Miach Orthopaedics, a privately held company in the Boston area, to continue the work toward using BEAR as an alternative to traditional ACL repair. The first two clinical trials have been successfully completed, and the company is working toward the FDA approval required before BEAR can be universally offered to those with ACL injuries.

While Murray is now a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized expert in the care of sports injuries of the knee, she credits much of her accomplishments to the “nuts and bolts of statics and materials science,” which play a role in orthopedic surgery, as well as the critical thinking and problem-solving skills she gained in the Engineering program at UD.

“There is a lot of engineering in medicine, and a lot of mechanical engineering in particular in orthopedics,” Murray says. “But the training in problem-solving has been by far the most important skill that came out of my time at UD.”

The pivotal moment that shifted Murray’s career trajectory from engineering to medicine occurred in graduate school, when her friend tore his ACL and said that repairing it was “impossible.” Murray set out to determine why, beginning with spending six months in the medical library learning all that she could about the ligament. She went on to earn a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania.

“I saw sports medicine as a way to help people heal and recover from injuries, and also as a field where being a part of new advances could be possible,” she says.

Now, Murray is retired from her clinical practice and is invested in full-time research, continuing to work toward solving the problem of fixing a torn ACL.

At UD, Murray was recognized as part of the 2020 Alumni Wall of Fame for her achievements.