Honorees

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Dr. William J. Bryan, M.D., has been in orthopedic surgery practice for more than 34 years at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Bryan did his orthopedic surgery residency at Baylor College of Medicine and followed that with a fellowship in arthritis surgery at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery (1979-1980). Dr. Bryan has been a clinical associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine and is now a clinical professor in The Houston Methodist Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Department. He has also taught the orthopedics course to physical therapy students at TWU-Houston for 33 years. Dr. Bryan has been the Astros baseball physician for 2 decades and was president of the Major League Baseball Physician’s Association. His practice now centers on total knee replacements being carried out at both Houston Methodist and the Houston Orthopedic Spine Hospital.

Present research includes being on an elite international team of orthopedic surgeons implanting and evaluating minimally invasive total knee replacements which retain all of the patient's ligaments. The XP total knee replacement offers to be a major advancement for the active arthritic patient with advanced arthritis.

Dr. Bryan and his wife of 42 years, Sandy, are proud parents of David, Kyle, Travis, Sarah, and Cody. They reside in the West University area. Besides being on the Arthritis Foundation board, Dr. Bryan is a past Board of Directors at the River Oaks Country Club and sits on the governing body of the Greater Houston Community Foundation. Dr. Bryan has been active with the Arthritis Foundation since the 1980s and fondly remembers The Arthritis Foundation Haunted House in Downtown Houston, which was one of the first of its kind and raised significant funds for The Arthritis Foundation. He pedaled his road bicycle in 2011 from San Francisco to Los Angeles with past Arthritis Foundation President Jack Kleppil to raise money for Arthritis Foundation research.

Dr. Bryan cares about the long-term outcome of not only his patients but also the 53 million Americans suffering from arthritis. Dr. Bryan is an outspoken and prominent community leader to bring greater awareness and funds to finding better treatments and eventually a cure for arthritis. To this end, Dr. Bryan has been a committed patient advocate through his role on the Community Leadership Board and founder of the Joints in Action golf tournament for the Arthritis Foundation. The Joints in Action golf tournament is now in its 9th year, and it has been a sold-out and highly successful event. The Joints in Action Tournament introduced a novel concept – giving participants handicap strokes for each replaced joint! Dr. Bryan’s ability to engage communities to join the fight against arthritis is unparalleled, and The Arthritis Foundation is honored that Dr. Bryan is willing to support the mission in such a meaningful and impactful way.

Tucker Beau was diagnosed with severe juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) at the age of two. His condition causes a myriad of autoimmune disorders including painful and swollen joints, rashes, night sweats, high fevers, digestive maladies, and hearing loss. He is now six years old and has been treated with the high risk disease modifying drugs normally reserved for adults with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. There is no cure for arthritis and without a cure Tucker Beau will continue along that physically debilitating path of JIA.

As Tucker Beau overheard his parents and doctors discuss his prognosis; all he knew was something made him hurt and they must be saying “Monstritis” instead of arthritis. Tucker Beau decided that if he has Montritis attacking him then he needed to call in the help of a superhero. He chose Batman to help him when he hurts, and wears his Batman suit for infusions and hospital stays. He is always brave and promises not to cry as long as the nurses and doctors call him Batman.

Tucker Beau recently moved to Houston from Midland, Texas with his parents, Todd and Linsey Hyatt and siblings, Preston and Kade. Tucker Beau and the entire Hyatt family understand the need to find a cure and work tirelessly with the Arthritis Foundation to bring awareness to the work of the Foundation and raise funds to find a cure. Tucker Beau is outspoken about his disease and was recently featured on the Great Day Houston Morning Show with Earl Campbell. Tucker Beau is often quoted as saying "I'm a kid and kids need to play.”

The greater Houston area is home to 5,000 children and over one million adults suffering from the nation’s most debilitating disease called arthritis.