Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders Scientific Symposium/Retreat Louis J. Soslowsky, PhD Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering Vice Chair for Research, Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery

PCMD Aims Enhance and advance research productivity with a focus on tissue injury and repair using small animals through development of: –3 research core facilities –Pilot and feasibility grant program –Educational, training, and research enrichment programs

Penn Research Base Membership –Established investigators: Current research program –New investigators: Strong potential to develop research program 50 faculty investigators from 5 schools (>100 RSVP’d for today) Over $38,000,000 – annual research grant direct costs

Penn Facilities Penn ranked highly in NIH funding –>1,000 NIH grants –>$450,000,000 annual NIH funding Infrastructure: physical space, common facilities, research cores, centers, and institutes High quality investigators Facilities on a single campus

Center Program Overview Promote cooperative interaction Enrich ongoing research Promote new research Research cores, enrichment programs, and P&F grants 3 Core Areas with funds available –Microarray –Structure-Function Biomechanics –Small Animal Imaging

Center Program Overview Microarray Core: builds on exisiting Core facility, but would provide dedicated resources for musculoskeletal researchers Structure-Function Biomechanics: builds on McKay Orthopaedic Lab facility, but with wider capabilities, expertise, and dedicated resources Small Animal Imaging: builds on expertise in Radiology, providing “centralization” and dedicated resources

Admin. Core: Enrichment Program Scientific Symposium/Retreat Seminar Series Core Open Houses Roundtable Lunch Discussion Group Center Website Distribution List Intramural Grant Review Program

Pilot & Feasibility Grant Program Eligible Investigators –Established – departure from previous work in musculoskeletal disorders –Established – new to research in musculoskeletal disorders –New investigator – never PI on NIH R01, R29, P01, R55 or similar grant

Pilot & Feasibility Grant Program Lead to funding through independent, extramural mechanisms Use R03 (small grants) format

Pilot & Feasibility Grant Program Christopher S. Chen, MD, PhD: Mechanotransduction in mesenchymal stem cells Robert L. Mauck, PhD: Meniscus repair with a novel aligned nanofiber scaffold Pedro K. Beredjiklian, MD: The role of hyaluronic acid receptors in tendon healing

Pilot & Feasibility Grant Program Pedro K. Beredjiklian, MD: The role of hyaluronic acid receptors in tendon healing (funded by NIH R21) Robert J. Pignolo, MD, PhD: Stem cell rescue of the osteoporotic phenotype in a mouse model of accelerated aging

Summary NIH/NIAMS Center grant (7/1/06 for 5 years) Feedback is critical (my address is in your books) Today’s program….

Thank You