NIH grant renewed to continue work at the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders

"This center grant has allowed us to grow the community of musculoskeletal doctors and researchers in the Philadelphia region and neighboring states, and provide critical physical and intellectual resources to tackle the most important problems in our field," said the center's founding director, Louis Soslowsky, PhD, a professor of Orthopedic Surgery.

Operating since 2006, it is the longest-running NIH-sponsored musculoskeletal research center in the United States. Since its start, the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders' research has delved into the fundamental understandings of the cause, development, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of a spectrum of conditions, ranging from osteoporosis to rotator cuff tears.

We have been able to grow to 17 partnering institutions in our region and are particularly excited about some of the outreach efforts that this next grant cycle will develop and support."

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Louis Soslowsky, PhD, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery

Many research efforts focus on specific types of tissue, such as cartilage, ligaments, or bone, alone. But that can limit the discoveries. As such, researchers at the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders strive to learn from research across all tissues. For example, inflammatory cytokines – a type of signaling molecule – are fairly well researched for certain types of tissues, but whether the findings in one tissue apply to another are not as well understood. By avoiding the siloing of research and focusing on how each study applies to the entirety of the musculoskeletal system, the researchers at the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders hope to dispel some of those uncertainties.

Today, the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders has 204 faculty members, 76 more than it had the last time the grant was renewed, five years ago. Five different schools at Penn participate, including the Perelman School of Medicine, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Veterinary Medicine, and the School of Arts and Sciences. And members of the center have $169 million in annual extramural funding, an increase from $105 million just five years ago.

Much of the focus in this round of funding will address developing a deep bank of researchers and infrastructure for continued high-level research. The center has three specific aims in its mission made possible by the new grant:

• To provide innovation within key areas that cross disciplines, such as microCT imaging, Biomechanics, and Histology
• Creation of a grant program for pilot of new ideas and collaborations before seeking outside funding
• Development of educational programs spanning tissue types and research approaches so that investigators can learn from leaders in the field and each other

"We are so grateful to the NIAMS at NIH for continuing to support our multidisciplinary research," Soslowsky said. "We are excited to broaden the impact of our efforts locally and globally to better understand and treat musculoskeletal disorders for the better care of our patients."