Biomedical mentoring project targets arthritis

As UD scientists conduct leading-edge research on osteoarthritis, they also will be part of a unique mentoring program to foster the development of women biomedical researchers at the University.

The related projects, led by Thomas Buchanan, professor and chairperson of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, are supported by an $11 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant, which emphasizes “translational” research—scientific findings that can be readily translated into practical methods of prevention or treatment—is the second five-year NIH award to UD’s Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, following a $6.4 million grant in 2002.

The wearing down of cartilage, the natural cushion between the bones and joints, causes osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. The disease typically affects the knees, hips, back and hands.

According to Buchanan, the latest grant will enable the University to continue building the infrastructure and expertise to address the mechanisms of osteoarthritis, its prevention and treatment by examining the disease from the integrated perspectives of tissue mechanics, biomechanics, physical therapy and clinical intervention.

The program will involve 14 faculty members in three of UD’s seven colleges, with researchers from Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children and the Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corp. serving as collaborators.

“What we have at UD that’s really unique is a collection of people to address osteoarthritis across multiple levels, which is what translational medicine is all about,” Buchanan says.

“We have people who can look at the proteins that are important to the healing of cartilage, for example, to people who can create biomechanical models showing the movement of bones and joints, to people who can conduct the clinical studies critical to the development of therapies. We can span lots of disciplines, which is what’s exciting here.”

Buchanan says the program’s focus on mentoring women in science and engineering evolved after the request for research proposals was circulated on campus. Women faculty submitted the top-five research proposals.

“We wanted to find ways to use this program as an opportunity to promote their role,” he says.

Nationally, women continue to be underrepresented in the academic ranks of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. At UD, the percentages of all tenured/tenure-track women faculty are 17 percent in the natural sciences and 10 percent in engineering, according to Buchanan.

“Mechanical engineering, for example, traditionally has been a male discipline although many of our new faculty are women,” he says of the department he chairs. “Our goal is to find good faculty mentors and start working with these new hires to see the discipline change. We need better mentoring to help with the process.”

The grant’s chief components, Buchanan says, are to create a core facility for mentoring women in science and engineering, to establish a new lab focusing on cytomechanics, or cell mechanics, and to advance five integrated research projects in osteoarthritis.

L. Pamela Cook, professor of mathematical sciences, associate dean of engineering and chairperson of UD’s Commission on the Status of Women, is assisting with the development of a strong internal networking and support system for women faculty in science and engineering. Professional development workshops, establishment of a faculty ombudswoman and University-wide presentations on gender issues, including promotion and tenure, are being planned.

Women faculty members are directing the grant’s five research projects. Two are led by senior faculty, who also are helping to mentor the junior faculty in charge of the remaining projects.

Mary C. Farach-Carson, professor of biological sciences and director of UD’s Center for Translational Cancer Research, and Catherine Kirn-Safran, research assistant professor of biological sciences, are leading one team.

The other projects are led by Liyun Wang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Lynn Snyder-Mackler, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Physical Therapy and director of the Graduate Program in Biomechanics and Movement Sciences; Jill Higginson, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; and Katherine Rudolph, assistant professor of physical therapy.

—Tracey Bryant