News

Professor Hani Awad (BME) in collaboration with professor Matthew Yates (ChE) received one of the 2012 Provost's Multidisciplinary Awards for their collaborative project entitled Coating of Titanium Implants with Electrically Polarized Hydroxyapatite to Enhance Bone Integration.

Two current BME and Chemical Engineering students and a BME alumna have received prestigious National Science Foundation Research Fellowships. BME graduate student, Jason Inzana (Awad Lab), Michael Baranello, a Chemical Engineering Ph.D. student in the Benoit Lab, and Molly Boutin, an alumnus of the Benoit lab (undergraduate research assistant), were among those who received the fellowships.

Selection for these awards is based on the students' outstanding abilities and accomplishments, as well as their potential to contribute to strengthening the vitality of the US science and engineering enterprise. The fellowship, which is part of a federally sponsored program, provides three years of graduate study support for students pursing doctoral degrees. The fellowship includes a three-year annual stipend of $30,000, a $10,500 educational allowance to the institution, and international research opportunities.

A medication already approved to build bone mass in patients with osteoporosis also builds cartilage around joints and could potentially be repurposed to treat millions of people suffering from arthritis, according to orthopaedic researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The study authors hope their laboratory findings, published in the current issue of Science Translational Medicine, will set the stage for the first human clinical trials to test human parathyroid hormone (brand name: Forteo) in this growing patient population.

Among many collaborators, on this article, from the University of Rochester Medical Center were Drs. Edward M. Schwarz, Ph.D. and Hani Awad, Ph.D.

Associate Professors Andrew Berger (Optics) and Hani Awad (BME) were among the recipients of a 2010-2011 Provost Multidisciplinary Award (PMA) for a study entitled Noninvasive optical monitoring of bone degradation in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study will develop a noninvasive optical method of measuring bone fragility in genetically modified mice developing severe RA as they receive both anti-inflammatory medication and complementary drugs that try to preserve bone health. By providing a better way of tracking bone fragility in living animals, this work will generate new understanding of how bone disorders develop and how medicines can treat them more effectively in both animals and humans.

An existing osteoporosis drug is the first ever found to prevent cartilage loss from osteoarthritis following injury to a joint, and may also regenerate some cartilage that has been lost to osteoarthritis, according to an early study presented today at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Denver. While the study was in mice, the model closely mimics human osteoarthritis that develops following knee injuries, according to the study authors.

Dr. Hani Awad has received funding from the NIH to support a 5 year study that seeks to develop a tissue engineering-based solution to debilitating adhesions that are frequently encountered with flexor tendon reconstructive surgery. The funded research will evaluate the interplay between pro- and anti-scarring factors to identify therapeutic targets for this problem. The studies will also investigate the efficacy of using allografts and gene therapy in eradicating adhesions and restoring the joint's range of motion. The new grant will expand this area of research, which has been previously funded by grants from the Orthopaedic Research Education Foundation (OREF) and the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF).

Ten scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have been awarded more than $6.8 million by the Empire State Stem Cell Board. The grants are for a wide range of research programs in the fields of neurological disorders, cancer, musculoskeletal diseases, the blood system, and efforts to understand the fundamental mechanics of stem cell biology.

Tony Chen, Ph.D. candidate, presenting at the Orthopaedic Research Society Meeting.

Tony Chen, Ph.D. Candidate, presented two papers at the 55^th Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society in Las Vegas, NV (February 22 - 25, 2009). The papers he presented were:

• Chen T, Jeffries R, Zuscik M, Awad H. Anabolic Effects of TGF-beta1 and Low Oxygen on Bioreactor-Cultivated Tissue Engineered Cartilage, and
• Chen T, Zuscik M, Awad H. Interstitial Flow Produces a Superficial Zone-Like Layer in Tissue Engineered Cartilage.

Laura Yanoso Scholl presenting her poster at the Summer Bioengineering Conference.

Laura Yanoso Scholl won the First Prize in the MS Student Poster Competition at the Summer Bioengineering Conference (June 25-29, 2008), Marco Island, FL, for her paper and poster entitled Evaluation of Poly-Lactic Acid/Beta-Tricalcium Phosphate Scaffolds as Segmental Bone Graft Substitutes.

David Reynolds and Dr. Awad after winning the Ph.D. Student Competition.

David Reynolds won First Prize in the Ph.D. student competition at the Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) meeting in Toronto (June 13-16, 2007) for his paper and poster entitled Novel Measurement of Bone Graft-to-Host Union Using CT Imaging: Implications for Biomechanical Strength. David competed with 250 student applicants and along with the honor of placing first he won a $1,000 cash prize.

2007 Kappa Delta Ann Doner Vaughn Award winners (Dr. Awad is second from left).

BME Assistant Professor Hani Awad received this award, along with the research group from his alma mater led by Dr. David Butler. The team was recognized for their research and manuscript on Functional Tissue Engineering for Tendon Repair: A Multidisciplinary Strategy Using Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Bioscaffolds and Mechanical Stimulation. This is the highest research award given by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).