Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Bone Tissue Engineering Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was awarded a three-year, $2.9 million research grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to help soldiers who have lost limbs in combat. The Engineering Center’s Director, Jeffrey O. Hollinger, PhD, and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, PhD, J.C. Warner Professor of Natural Sciences at CMU’s Mellon College of Science, are developing a therapy to prevent heterotopic ossification at the amputation site.
“We are developing novel nano-structured polymers that will place selective biological cues at the stump site to block the bone formation cascade in the soldier’s traumatized muscle,” Hollinger stated in a CMU press release. “Our work is critical as amputations increase with the current surge in Afghanistan,” he noted.
Matyjaszewski said the ability to control and block mineralization and bone formation opens up many compelling opportunities for increased research. Heterotopic ossification can occur in a number of situations other than amputation, most commonly after joint replacement surgery.
