Musculoskeletal Regeneration and Rehabilitation Research

Musculoskeletal Regenerative & Rehabilitative Research involves scientists at the University Tennessee Health Science Center campus and associated universities and campuses across Tennessee. These scientists conduct foundational musculoskeletal research using regenerative medicine techniques. Research areas include diseases or injuries of bones, joints, and muscles. Examples would consist of osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and sarcopenia. Regenerative medicine’s use of cell-based therapies is rapidly evolving to address pressing orthopaedic problems, which is ideally suited to multidisciplinary approaches for developing translation solutions. 

TennIRM researchers have diverse expertise and knowledge in disciplines extending from cell biology and biomedical engineering to advance translational research leading to clinical trials. The TennIRM network allows researchers and clinician-scientists to partner with faculty with expertise in preclinical research involving cartilage, bone, connective tissue, and skeletal muscle regeneration. These investigations include using stem cells to promote cartilage and osteochondral regeneration with osteoarthritis, bone regeneration in age-related osteoporosis and traumatic reconstructive surgery, and mitochondria-enriched stem cells to promote aged skeletal muscle regeneration.

TennIRM researchers use state-of-the-art techniques to investigate musculoskeletal regeneration, including immuno-tissue histopathology, 3D bioprinting, stem cell isolation and in vitro and in vivo characterization, bone histomorphometry and micro-CT measurements, and computational biology for new drug discovery.