Membership Eligibility:
– Faculty appointment
– Active musculoskeletal researcher
– Intent to participate in MRC programs and/or use Core services

The MRC research community has more than 80 members (PIs) who have over 60 million dollars of annual research support (direct costs).

Showing: All results
Yousef Abu-Amer, PhD

Yousef Abu-Amer, PhD

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: molecular steps critical for development and progression of such diseases related to osteoclasts.

Rajeev  Aurora

Rajeev Aurora

Saint Louis University – Molecular Microbiology & Immunology

Focus: the mechanisms that lead to chronic inflammation.

David  Brogan

David Brogan

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: improving techniques for peripheral nerve repair and regeneration and has an interest in developing methods to quantitatively assess nerves intra-operatively.

Rita Brookheart, PhD

Rita Brookheart, PhD

Internal Medicine – Pediatrics

Focus: skeletal muscle function and metabolic flexibility in response to stress (e.g., exercise, prolong fasting, and injury) and how these responses are impacted by metabolic disruptions — particularly obesity and diabetes.

Robert  Brophy

Robert Brophy

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: sports medicine and shoulder and knee injuries, with an emphasis on arthroscopic surgery.

Joani Christensen

Joani Christensen

Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Focus: Factors influencing outcomes of microsurgical procedures, including the treatment and prevention of lymphedema and autologous tissue reconstruction.

Roberto Civitelli

Roberto Civitelli

Internal Medicine – Bone & Mineral Diseases

Focus: the cellular and molecular basis of the bone remodeling process, and to devise mechanisms by which this balance can be modified.

John  Clohisy

John Clohisy

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: the diagnosis and treatment of pre-arthritic and early arthritic hip disorders. Optimizing joint replacement procedures in young patients, and total joint arthroplasty patient surveillance.

Marco  Colonna

Marco Colonna

Pathology and Immunology

Focus: Characterization of innate immune receptors expressed on myeloid and lymphoid cells. We study their impact in immune responses in infections, autoimmunity, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Among others, we study the receptor TREM2, which is expressed in osteoclasts and controls their development and function in the bone. Genetically inherited defects of TREM2 cause mild osteoporosis and bone cysts. TREM2 is also expressed in synovial macrophages and may impact their responses during autoimmune arthritis.

Dawn Cornelison

Dawn Cornelison

University of Missouri-Columbia

Focus: signaling interactions between satellite cells and cells/ECM of the broad and dynamic local environment they must navigate during acute muscle regeneration

Carrie  Cowardin

Carrie Cowardin

University of Virginia

Focus: understanding how the gut microbiota during pregnancy and early postnatal life set the stage for lifelong immunity

David  Curiel

David Curiel

Radiation Oncology

Focus: the exploitation of adenoviral agents for applications to the applied contexts of molecular therapeutics.

Alicia De Maria

Alicia De Maria

Growth, Development and Structure, School a Dental Medicine, SIU

Focus: Periodontal ligament and alveolar bone in Marfan Syndrome

Carl  DeSelm

Carl DeSelm

Radiation Oncology

Focus: the development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) based cellular therapies to treat disease.

Michael  Diamond

Michael Diamond

Department of Internal Medicine- Infectious Diseases

Focus: the dissection of mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and the host immune response for global pathogens of medical relevance. This includes defining mechanisms of alphavirus-induced arthritis.

Patricia Dickson

Patricia Dickson

Pediatrics

Focus:  mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) disorders, which are lysosomal enzyme deficiencies affecting the catabolism of glycosaminoglycans. Musculoskeletal manifestations include dysostosis multiplex, joint restriction or joint laxity, kyphoscoliosis, and pain. Our lab studies the response of disease to therapeutic enzymes, and the role of the immune system both in disease pathogenesis and the effect of a humoral immune response on the efficacy of therapy.

Dongsheng  Duan

Dongsheng Duan

University of Missouri-Columbia

Focus: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy

Brian  Edelson

Brian Edelson

Pathology & Immunology

Focus: the function of the transcription factor Bhlhe40 in immune cells.

Roberta Faccio

Roberta Faccio

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: the identification of common molecules that can modulate the activation of immune cells as well as osteoclasts.

Brian  Finck

Brian Finck

Department of Medicine

Focus: the molecular mechanisms involved in lipin 1-deficiency-associated rhabdomyolysis.

Harrison Gabel

Harrison Gabel

Neuroscience

Focus: Dissecting the epigenetic processes underlying Overgrowth and intellectual disability disorders (OGIDs). Our lab uses integrated analysis of epigenomic and transcriptomic alterations across multiple neurodevelopmental disease models to understand the genetic basis of these disorders.

Koyal Garg

Koyal Garg

Saint Louis University – Biomedical Engineering

Focus:  develop novel biomaterial and stem cell based regenerative therapies and electrical stimulation based rehabilitative strategies to promote the recovery of skeletal muscle following trauma.

Richard  Gelberman

Richard Gelberman

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: tendon repair, carpal instability, peripheral nerve repair and peripheral nerve compression.

Jahnavi Gollamudi

Jahnavi Gollamudi

Internal Medicine | University of Cincinnati

Focus: Mechanisms of bone loss in sickle cell disease, a red cell disorder

Matthew  Goodwin

Matthew Goodwin

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: Targeting lactate transportation as a means of attacking cancers.

Jeffrey  Gordon, MD

Jeffrey Gordon, MD

Pathology & Immunology

Focus: the translational research pipeline for identifying next generation prebiotics, probiotics- and synbiotics (combinations of pre- and probiotics) to prevent or treat metabolic dysfunction and nutritional deficiencies

Jianjun  Guan

Jianjun Guan

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

Focus: biomimetic biomaterials synthesis and scaffold fabrication; bioinspired modification of biomaterials; injectable and highly flexible hydrogels; bioimageable polymers for MRI and EPR imaging and oxygen sensing; mathematical modeling of scaffold structural and mechanical properties; stem cell transplantation; and regeneration of musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and brain tissues.

Farshid Guilak

Farshid Guilak

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: cell and tissue engineering; development, degeneration, and aging; embryonic and adult tissue stem cells.

Christina  Gurnett

Christina Gurnett

Neurology

Focus: the genetic basis of congenital malformations such as idiopathic scoliosis and clubfoot.

Brendan A  Harley

Brendan A Harley

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Focus: developing biomaterials that present microenvironmental (biophysical + biomolecular) signals to instruct cell behavior for applications in musculoskeletal tissue regeneration, hematopoietic stem cell biomanufacturing, as well as models of invasive brain cancer and endometrial physiology and disease

Michael  Harris

Michael Harris

Program In Physical Therapy

Focus: how alterations in joint geometry or the musculature affect movement patterns and how these factors are collectively associated with osteoarthritis (OA).

Marcie  Harris-Hayes

Marcie Harris-Hayes

Program In Physical Therapy

Focus: the biomechanics and imaging of the hip and pelvis with the goal to develop effective rehabilitation strategies for people with musculoskeletal hip disorders.

Mary  Hastings

Mary Hastings

Program In Physical Therapy

Focus: foot and ankle biomechanics; understanding of foot and ankle function to improve screening, prevention, and treatment outcomes related to foot and ankle injuries.

Andreas  Herrlich

Andreas Herrlich

Renal Division

Focus: the regulation of the release of growth factors and cytokines by metalloproteases cleavage from the cell surface (ectodomain cleavage), how it affects communication between different cell types in complex multicellular organs, and its role(s) in pathophysiology.

Angela  Hirbe

Angela Hirbe

Medical Oncology

Focus: the genomic information from sarcomas to better understand the pathogenesis of these tumors and to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets for these aggressive cancers.

Katherine Holzem

Katherine Holzem

Surgery

Focus: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Studying the structural derangements of tibial atherosclerotic disease, with particular focus on patterns of vascular calcification.

Keith Hruska

Keith Hruska

Pediatrics Nephrology

Focus: the pathogenesis and pathophysiologic mechanisms of the chronic kidney disease-bone and mineral disorder.

Nathaniel  Huebsch

Nathaniel Huebsch

Biomedical Engineering

Focus: Engineered disease models, hydrogel biomaterials for regenerative medicine approaches to bone and intervertebral disc.

Benjamin  Humphreys

Benjamin Humphreys

Division of Renal Diseases

Focus: the mechanisms of fibrosis across organs in chronic injury states.

Umang Jain

Umang Jain

Pathology and Immunology

Focus: Studying how gut microbiota impacts host response to inflammation and injury.

Aaron  Johnson

Aaron Johnson

Developmental Biology

Focus: the molecular mechanisms that govern skeletal muscle development.

Jay  Keener

Jay Keener

Orthopaedic Surgery

Focus: the evaluation and treatment of shoulder and elbow disorders, including throwing shoulder injuries, labral tears and biceps tendon injuries, rotator cuff disease and tears, frozen shoulder syndrome, shoulder and elbow arthritis, shoulder fractures, minimally invasive shoulder fracture fixation, shoulder and elbow joint replacement, acromioclavicular and sternoclavicular joint injuries, shoulder instability and reverse shoulder arthroplasty.

Eirini Kefalogianni

Eirini Kefalogianni

Focus: Cellular and molecular mechanisms of tissue injury, inflammation, and fibrosis, with a focus on soluble receptors of growth factors and cytokines.

Mariana E.  Kersh

Mariana E. Kersh

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Focus: understanding the mechanical instigators of tissue development and remodeling during growth and aging, and the effect of injury or disease on their properties

Spencer Lake

Spencer Lake

Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering

Focus: the multiscale mechanics of orthopaedic soft tissues, particularly of tendons and ligaments that are subjected to complex and/or combined physiologic loads.

Gregory  Lanza

Gregory Lanza

Medicine & Biomedical Engineering

Focus: novel nanotechnologies for biomedical molecular imaging and targeted drug delivery in cardiovascular, neurological, orthopedic, rheumatoid, and cancer diseases.

Rebekah  Lawrence

Rebekah Lawrence

Physical Therapy

Focus: Understanding the modifiable biomechanical factors underlying shoulder pain and pathology leading to the development of evidence-based rehabilitation strategies.

Deborah  Lenschow

Deborah Lenschow

Rheumatology

Focus: the mechanism by which type I IFNs mediate their effector mechanisms through the study of various IFN stimulated genes.

Xiaowei Li

Xiaowei Li

Surgery

Focus: Developing biomaterial platforms for regenerative medicine, with specific interest in applications of biomaterials for angiogenesis and vascularization, stem cell engineering, and central nervous system and soft tissue regeneration.

Daniel  Link

Daniel Link

Internal Medicine

Focus: the mechanisms that regulate normal and leukemic hematopoiesis.