Members

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

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.

Focus: the mechanisms that regulate normal and leukemic hematopoiesis.

Focus: the role of the Leucine rich Repeat with a Pyrin domain 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in bone.

Focus: cartilage tissue, both articular and growth plate cartilage.

Focus: the role of bone morphogenetic protein two (BMP2) on skeletal development and bone quality.

Focus: Regulation of growth and patterning. Our recent preliminary data in Drosophila has indicated that a poorly understood nuclear envelope protein, Nemp, is required for fertility and muscle stem cells. We are interested in determining if this is true for mammals. We have generated Nemp1 mutant mouse, and our recent preliminary data suggest a role in the muscle and skeleton. In addition, we study Fat4, a large cadherin. Mutations in Fat4 are associated with Van maldergem syndrome, which is characterized by a range of defects, including skeletal defects. We have generated targeted mutations in Fat4 in mice with CRISPR, and want to determine if there are defects in muscle and skeleton.

Focus: preclinical multimodal imaging technologies for biomarker discovery in orthopedic diseases

Focus: changes at the molecular and cellular level in skeletal muscle and how they affect muscle structure and function.

Focus: the integrative biology and evolution of vertebrate “locomotor tissues” including not only bones and muscles but also feathers and wing membranes.

Focus: (1) fatty acid and lipoprotein metabolism leading to the discovery of significant sexual dimorphism in the regulation of lipid metabolism and (2) muscle protein metabolism with the goal to elucidate the influences of sex hormones, male/female genotype and fibre composition on the muscle anabolic response to feeding and exercise.

Focus: Understanding the changes to paraspinal musculature in adult spinal deformity and degenerative diseases.

Focus: Brain-Computer Interfacing using intracalvarial electrodes.

Focus: the molecular genetics of metabolic bone diseases and skeletal dysplasias, with special emphasis on the patient population at the Center for Metabolic Bone Disease and Molecular Research, Shriners Hospitals for Children, St. Louis.

Focus: the pharmacogenetics of osteoporosis, with emphasis on estrogen metabolic pathways, on the effects of bisphosphonates and other pharmacologic agents in osteoporosis, and on the effects of diabetes on bone health.

Focus: young adult hip disorders and pediatric sports medicine.

Focus: Role of ion channels in skeletal muscle fatigue and damage, and in skeletal deformation.

Focus: cartilage, bone repair, skeletal development, cancer and inflammatory diseases of bone.

Focus: the mechanisms by which growth factors modulate skeletal fracture repair.

Focus: the impact of chemerin modulation in mouse models of prostate cancer.

Focus: Design and deployment of practical and safe solutions for unmet medical needs. I have extensive research experiences in developing molecular diagnosis and nano-based drug/gene delivery strategies for inflammatory diseases, including autoimmune arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, and cancer.

Focus: cartilage regeneration, hip dysplasia, hip impingement, biomarkers, tissue engineering, stem cells, osteoarthritis.

Focus: Investigation of muscle histology in patients with cleft lip and palate.

Focus: The importance of FGFR signaling to bone development and homeostasis using mouse as a model system.

Focus: role of proteases in immunity and autoimmunity.

Focus: The molecular/biochemical pathogenesis of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) in mineralized and non-mineralized tissues, with a recent focus to develop alternative pharmacologic and therapeutic strategies to enhance muscle and bone quality and biomechanical integrity.

Focus: PTH signaling. PTH1R. Calcium and phosphorus homeostasis.

Focus: early molecular mechanisms that orchestrate changes in knee joint after injury and lead to the development of osteoarthritis.

Focus: Spinal cord injury, cervical myelopathy, electrical stimulation – peripheral nerve regeneration, electrical stimulation – bony fusion, peripheral neuroprosthetics

Focus: Understanding the biomechanics of musculoskeletal soft tissue using methods ranging from preclinical models to wearable sensors in people.

Focus: Advancements in the fields of plastic and reconstructive surgery as whole, and specifically vascularized composite allotransplantation, tissue engineering, vascular perfusion assessment, breast reconstruction, and lymphedema. As such, the role of musculoskeletal tissue has a critical role in understanding the pathology, injury, or regeneration to achieve advances in these areas.

Focus: studying the intersection of ion channel mechanobiology and metabolism with a focus on cardiometabolic disease

Focus: synthesis of concepts from cell biology, physiology, and bioengineering to study the relationships between the nervous system and the skeleton. We have a directed interest in understanding how neural signals contribute to skeletal homeostasis, and how perturbations to this system contribute to bone loss, impaired healing, and changes in metabolism.

Focus: imaging and fluid-based biomarkers of disease to characterize therapy benefits for pain and dysfunction.

Focus: Development of effective treatments for tendon injuries and related disorders through multidisciplinary collaborations, which integrates the expertise and innovative technology in the field of translational tendon research, regenerative medicine, extracellular vesicle application, tissue engineering, and drug development.

Focus: cartilage, bone repair, skeletal development, cancer and inflammatory diseases of bone.

Focus:  molecularly targeted small molecule and multi-functional macromolecular bio-conjugates for nuclear and optical imaging of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. We are currently developing multi-modal imaging platforms for studying bone marrow related malignancies such as multiple myeloma.

Focus: Bone biomechanics and mechanobiology. Our lab focuses on two main questions.
1) How does mechanical loading stimulate bone formation?
2) How do bones heal after injury?

Focus: facial reconstruction, facial nerve disorders, facial paralysis, facial clefts, cleft lip, cleft palate, ear reconstruction, microtia, reconstruction of obstetrical brachial plexus injuries, microsurgical procedures in children and adults.

Focus:  the cellular and molecular genetic mechanisms underlying vertebrate gastrulation, a crucial period of embryogenesis during which the germ layers are formed and then shaped into the vertebrate body plan with organ rudiments.

Focus:  the impact of aging on the tumor microenvironment.

Focus: (1) understanding the effect of disease mechanisms on the structure-function relationships of skeletal tissues and (2) developing of translatable therapeutic and regenerative strategies for these diseases. The investigation of these scientific questions includes the application of finite element analyses, multiscale tissue mechanics, the functional imaging of skeletal tissues, and development of nanostructures and nanomaterials for regenerative medicine with in vitro and in vivo biological systems.

Focus: Osteoporosis

Focus:  1) the sensory-motor factors underlying musculoskeletal pain conditions, and 2) how these factors interact with activity demand and psychsocial factors to increase risk for, or contribute to an existing musuloskeleletal pain condition.

Focus: the initiation, progression and relapse mechanisms of osteosarcoma.

Focus: models of pathological bone loss including osteoporosis, breast cancer metastasis to bone, inflammatory arthritis and osteomyelitis

Focus: establish robust animal models of chronic low back pain

Focus: using various chemistry, pharmaceutical, and nanomedicine tools to address major problems in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal, inflammatory and craniofacial/dental diseases

Focus: the role of protein aggregation in hereditary myopathies and motor neuron disease

Focus: the molecular basis of bone metastasis, with a particular interest in the critical roles of osteoclast and osteoblast beta 3 integrin signaling pathway genes, the viral oncogene, Tax, and the bone marrow homing molecules, VLA-4, CXCR4 and G-CSF in the process of bone metastasis and multiple myeloma bone marrow colonization.