The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded a $361,300 Project Grant under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The goal of this 2-year exploratory/developmental project is to use high-throughput small molecule screening and CRISPR screening technologies to identify signaling pathways and therapeutic targets for disease modification in osteoarthritis...
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded a $1,657,392 Project Grant under CFDA 93.846 (Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research) to the University of Pittsburgh. The grant funds research to repurpose FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) using high-throughput screening in microphysiological models. The project aims to define the capacity of FDA-approved drugs to reverse cartilage-driven and inflammation-driven OA...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846), aims to identify peptides that preferentially localize to osteoarthritic (OA) joints after intravenous injection and leverage these peptides to develop targeted OA drug carriers. The $208,627 award, granted on Jul 11, 2024, will fund research activities at the University of Florida and the...
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded Vanderbilt University a $393,412 Project Grant (CFDA 93.846 - Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research) to develop engineered cells as agents for treating osteoarthritis. The project aims to leverage advanced cell design platforms to create synthetic receptor-controlled, joint-resident cells that can detect cartilage degeneration and then upregulate the expression of transgenes to promote...
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded a $123,040 Project Grant under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to the University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, Inc. (KUMCRI) to investigate the therapeutic role of the NFAT1 transcription factor in osteoarthritis. The 5-year project, which began on August 1, 2024, aims to evaluate the potential of AAV-delivered NFAT1 gene therapy in treating...
This $589,255 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) aims to develop small RNA targeting approaches, such as microRNA and siRNA, to advance treatments for heterotopic ossification (HO). HO is a condition involving pathologic bone formation in soft tissues that can occur following orthopedic surgeries or injuries. The award will fund the...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) provides $452,437 to Tufts University School of Medicine to investigate the role of mast cell heterogeneity in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). The objective is to uncover the genetic basis and functions of different mast cell subtypes in the OA synovium using advanced proteomics and single-cell RNA sequencing technologies, as well as testing them in a mouse model. The research aims to...
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded a $1,066,302 Project Grant under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) to the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The grant, effective April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2029, will fund the creation of a biomedical knowledgebase to promote and facilitate the use of the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), a rich 16-year observational study with comprehensive...
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) awarded a $618,629 Project Grant (CFDA 93.846 - Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research) to The Regents of the University of Colorado to establish a new "microphysiological joint-on-chip" system. The objective is to create a realistic human joint model that can support mechanistic study of arthritic diseases and rapid testing of candidate treatments. The researchers plan to develop...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846) provides $595,117 to Vanderbilt University to develop carrier-free siRNA conjugates as disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs. The project aims to (1) elucidate the mechanism of action of siRNA-L2 against MMP13 in osteoarthritis, (2) test new chemical modifications to improve joint retention...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), under the Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.846), provides $1,288,152 to Tufts University School of Medicine to develop a novel screening approach called "JOINTSEQ" for identifying nanoparticles (NPs) that can precisely target specific cell types in the osteoarthritis (OA) joint environment. The project aims to create a library of DNA-barcoded NPs and use single-cell RNA sequencing to screen for NPs that can deliver therapeutics in a cell-specific manner within OA joints. Tufts University will collaborate with Brigham & Women's Hospital to develop the NPs and characterize their in vitro properties. The selected NPs will then be evaluated for their ability to deliver mRNA into mouse OA joints and human OA tissues. This research is expected to enable a new era of precision NP design for OA therapy and open new horizons for targeted gene therapy.