New Grant: Award Supports Growth Plate Tissue Engineering Research

Rachel Nordberg

Aug. 28, 2024 - Principal investigator: Rachel Nordberg, biomedical engineering associate research specialist

Award: Two years of loan repayment, up to $50,000 annually

Funding agency: NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Project: Tissue Engineering Self-assembled Neocartilage for Growth Plate Repair

Approximately 350,000 children experience a growth plate injury in the United States annually, and these injuries may cause stunted or deformed limb growth. Currently, there are no treatment options that restore the function of a damaged growth plate. This proposal will build upon preliminary data to develop a protocol for growth plate engineering.

With this project, Nordberg will characterize the functional properties of native growth plate tissue in both the human and the relevant large animal model of the Yucatan minipig. This will provide design criteria for a tissue-engineered implant and assess the minipig as a model for growth plate repair. Then she will engineer a growth plate that recapitulates the zonal organization of native tissue through the application of biochemical factors, laying the groundwork for developing a biologic implant for growth plate repair.

More information: https://www.lrp.nih.gov/

Share

  • X