Friday, April 9, 2010 -

Memphis Business Journal - by Michael Sheffield -

After almost five years as executive director of InMotion Orthopaedic Research Institute, Dick Tarr is retiring effective June 30.

InMotion has named orthopedic industry veteran Larry Foster as its new executive director.

Tarr has led InMotion since July 2005, when he was tapped to take the organization from startup mode into a self-sustaining 501(c)3 organization. Under Tarr’s guidance, InMotion has raised nearly $9 million and has grown to 13 employees, including five senior scientists. It is halfway to its fundraising goal of $6 million, which will create an endowment for the organization to cover research, operations and administrative costs.

Tarr says InMotion is now recognized as a reliable source for orthopedic research, one of his primary goals when he first joined. After fulfilling his five-year commitment, he says Foster was hired to take InMotion to a different level of research.

“It’s our goal to not only do grant work, but contract work for the industry,” Tarr says. “(Foster) can be the front man for that because he can use his contacts to broaden our base.”

Foster, who has worked in sales for Smith & Nephew PLC, Connecticut-based Doctor’s Research Group and Wilmington, N.C.-based TranS1, Inc., says his experience and relationships with medical implant manufacturers, specifically companies that specialize in the spinal device sector, will allow him to further broadcast the research capabilities of InMotion. The nonprofit laboratory can benefit established device companies and assist smaller device companies in getting their products validated by independent research.

“I’ve seen orthopedics from all sides and the timing was excellent for me to help make this work even more,” Foster says. “There’s no way I could have done what Dick has done, but I can help continue to tell those success stories.”

Steve Bares, executive director of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation and a board member of InMotion, says so many parts of the new health care legislation require new devices to be investigated, so a third-party research institute like InMotion could be the beneficiary.

“They’re in the right place at the right time and that’s an exciting change,” Bares says. “We’re appreciative of what Dick has brought to the community, and we’re looking forward to taking InMotion to the next level.”

InMotion Orthopedic Research Institute

Executive Director: Dick Tarr
Address: 20 S. Dudley, Suite 700
Phone: (901) 271-0000
Web site: www.inmotion-memphis.org