Alan Grodzinsky,
Professor of Biological, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Director of the MIT Center for Biomedical Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Alan Grodzinsky is the Director of MIT's Center for Biomedical Engineering, and is Professor of Biological, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering in the Departments of Biological Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering at MIT. His research interests include Osteoarthritis and the degeneration and repair of cartilage, drug delivery for Osteoarthritis, cellular mechanotransduction and molecular nano-mechanics. He has published over 320 refereed journal articles and reviews in these fields of research. He co-developed two required core graduate courses in the Biological Engineering at MIT and published a textbook related to these subjects on “Fields, Forces and Flows in Biological Systems” (Garland Science, 2011). He was elected Founding Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and is past Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Musculoskeletal Biology and Bioengineering. He is past President of the Orthopaedic Research Society and the International Cartilage Repair Society. He was on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Orthopaedic Research, Polymer Networks and Gels, Arthritis and Rheumatology, and is now on the boards of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage and Biophysical Journal. He received the NIH MERIT Award for research on Cartilage, and other awards including the Melville Medal of the ASME, the Kappa Delta Prize of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Borelli Award of the American Society of Biomechanics. He has consulted for numerous industrial and academic institutions, and to federal agencies including the NIH, NSF, FDA, and the Department of Justice, and has received the Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montreal.
Tissue Chips in Space: Human Cartilage-Bone-Synovium Microphysiological System for Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
Tuesday, 8 November 2022 at 15:50
Add to Calendar ▼2022-11-08 15:50:002022-11-08 16:50:00Europe/LondonTissue Chips in Space: Human Cartilage-Bone-Synovium Microphysiological System for Post-Traumatic OsteoarthritisThe Space Summit 2022 in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is caused by a traumatic impact
joint injury associated with an augmented inflammatory environment (such
as an ACL rupture). This results in loss of cartilage and impaired
joint function, severely impacting the quality of life of otherwise
healthy individuals, compounded by the fact that there are no
disease-modifying drugs available for OA/PTOA, only short acting pain
killers that do not halt disease progression. Astronauts may be at
heightened risk of altered musculoskeletal physiology, thus impacting
their Space mission. With an aim of PTOA disease management on Earth and
supporting astronaut health during long space missions, our overall
objective has been to develop a microphysiological system (MPS) to
simulate aspects of PTOA pathogenesis and progression in vitro, and to
use this MPS to develop therapeutic regimens incorporating appropriate
drugs and dynamic exercise loading to prevent disease progression and
stimulate pro-anabolic responses. Analyses to date from ISS experiments
show changes in human knee tissues indicative of the earliest events in
the initiation and progression of PTOA. The effects of human variability
are also under study. Use of such an MPS on earth and in LEO-based
platforms could enable accelerated disease modeling, providing unique
insights into disease progression and development of therapeutic
interventions. Effects of altered loading of joint cartilage in space
may affect the rate of cartilage breakdown leading to OA. Microgravity
may uniquely enable the study of joint-disuse versus exercise in
management of OA and PTOA.
