This news item is about: Rest, ice, compress and elevate is the advice that most people get after a sprained ankle from tripping on stairs or falling on the soccer ?eld. These measures help alleviate the pain, but no clinical data backs up this advice as the best treatment for healing or long-term joint health. Dr. Lisa Fortier, a professor of large animal surgery awarded the James Law professorship, is looking for new treatments for sprains. She is partnering with Dr. Hazel Szeto of Weill Cornell Medicine to test a peptide called SS-31 in horses with mild to severe ankle sprains. The peptide stabilizes mitochondria in the damaged tissue, acting like a molecular brace for the sprain, and preventing further damage, which can lead to the irreversible process of arthritis. Fortier’s work will yield evidence-based therapies for treating sprains, with the ultimate goal of averting arthritis in horses, dogs and humans.