Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders Scientific Symposium/Retreat

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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

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

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. Thank You www.med.upenn.edu/pcmd