BME faculty member Dr. Brian Diekman has received a $100,000 grant from the American Foundation for Aging Research (AFAR)/Arthritis National Research Foundation (ANRF) to study the mechanisms of aging in relation to osteoarthritis. Although the greatest risk factor for osteoarthritis is aging, little is known about how age-related changes ultimately cause the destruction of cartilage. “I want to answer this fundamental question by getting insight into the common mechanisms of aging across different tissue systems,” says Brian. “The search for disease-modifying drugs for osteoarthritis has been very challenging, and many patients have to withstand high levels of pain until the time is right for a total joint replacement.” The AFAR, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing biomedical research on aging, and the ANRF, the only charity solely focused on funding arthritis research to cure arthritis, support this project and are hopeful that it will lead to better treatment and preventative measures for osteoarthritis patients.
You can read more about Brian’s study at UNC News and from AFAR.