Cell and Molecular Biomechanics Lab receives $2 million grant

Apr 05 2018

The Cell and Molecular Biomechanics Lab led by Christopher R. Jacobs recently received a second round of $2 million of NIH funding to continue their work studying the cellular structures known as primary cilia.  This project will bring the total funding received by the CMBL on this topic to almost $4 million.

This new project will build upon the foundational understanding of the form and function established in the first funding period and exploit this knowledge to develop new therapeutics for bone diseases such as osteoporosis, which has no current therapies without unintended adverse side-effects. Osteoporosis affects 55% of people in the US over the age of 50. Hip fractures caused by osteoporosis are often the first step in a downward spiral of lost ambulation and independence, institutionalization, and secondary medical morbidity and mortality.

The CMBL will use a combination of computational and experimental biomechanics and mechanobiology, as well as traditional pharmacologic approaches such as small molecule screens and molecular dynamics simulations to develop new classes of drugs for osteoporosis and other bone diseases, such as osteoarthritis, atherosclerosis, and cancer.

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