NIH R15 and Biomedical Research

Developing interventions to mitigate the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

Dr. John Williams, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, recently received an Academic Research Enhancement Award (R15) grant from The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Williams will serve as Principal Investigator (PI) on the project, in collaboration with two consultants:  Dr. Kelly Santangelo, Ph.D., D.V.M., associate professor and veterinary pathologist, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology, Colorado State University; and Dr. Maryam Afzali, Ph.D., Research Scientist II with expertise in cellular and molecular toxicology, Colorado State University.

The three-year, $425,298 award, "Role of the Infrapatellar Fat Pad in the Development of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis Following Blunt Impact to the Knee Joint," will enable. Williams and his research team, composed primarily of undergraduate students, to study the infrapatellar fat pad in the knee and its interaction with articular tissues during knee osteoarthritis. Knee osteoarthritis is the most prevalent joint disorder and can be caused by events that overload the knee or involve blunt impact to the knee.

Osteoarthritis has a multifactorial etiology involving biomechanical, genetic, hormonal, and inflammatory factors and involves all the structures in and around the joint. This award will allow Williams and his research team to study the role of the infrapatellar fat pad in the development of post-traumatic knee osteoarthritis following blunt impact and identify molecular and biomechanical pathways involved in the disease progression.

The infrapatellar fat pad is an adipose tissue located just below the patella. It is known to be actively involved in the osteoarthritis disease process of the knee, but its function is not entirely known. In the past, white adipose tissue was believed to serve only for storing excess calories, but it is now known to play a role in physiological and pathological processes, such as in immunology and inflammation. The team will conduct biomechanical testing and histological analysis of the knee joint and its individual anatomical structures, such as the tibial and femoral articular cartilage, the meniscus, and fat pad. Since structural changes and the inflammatory events in the underlying bone supporting the articular cartilage may be stimulated by inflammatory mediators produced by cells in the fat pad, the subchondral bone as well as the trabecular bone structure will be evaluated by micro-CT.

The NIH R15 award is an Academic Research Enhancement Award for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15). One of the goals of the R15 is to expose students, especially undergraduate students, to biomedical research.

If you are an undergraduate BME student interested in getting involved in multidisciplinary research ranging from molecular mechanisms to biomechanical engineering or want more information on this award/research, contact Williams at jlwllm17@memphis.edu.