Mission statement:
As a lab, we are dedicated to pursuing research endeavors that increase understanding of sustaining bone health for both the clinical and spaceflight settings and applying therapies and countermeasures that act to improve bone structure. 

Our Research Emphases are to:
Develop a better understanding of pathological origins of bone loss and apply therapies through a combination of engineering and biological tools to advance treatments that sustain bone health and have application in both the clinical and astronautical field.

Space Induced Bone Loss:  

With funding from NSBRI, our research has focused on establishing the minimum, comparable efficacious dosing of two anti-resorptives: the bisphosphonate zoledronic acid and the endogenous anti-RANK ligand protein osteoprotegerin (OPG). Through animal studies, the lab is researching whether low doses of osteoprotegerin and zoledronate prevent the inflight loss of mass and would allow bone to recover more quickly. 

Additional funding was obtained from NSBRI to study the adverse effects of microgravity, reduced gravity and radiation exposure on long lunar missions.  The impact of radiation on bone quality and fracture healing in reduced gravity is relatively unknown. The lab is investigating the effect of different types of space radiation on bone to learn whether radiation increases the rate of loss and the effectiveness of administering pharmacological countermeasures on space related bone loss.

Clinical Bone  Loss:

Clinical bone loss can be a consequence of radiation exposure from cancer treatments where fractionated amounts of radiation are given to patients to reduce tumors. By fractionation, the ideal dose of radiation is provided while limiting the damaging effects on normal tissues. However, radiation therapy can have detrimental effects on bone health by increasing the risk for both osteoporosis and osteoradionecrosis, a condition of nonliving bone in a site of radiation injury.

NIH recently provided research money to exam skeletal complications that are associated with radiation therapy following treatment of pelvic cancers (e.g., cervical, colorectal, and prostate).  Increasing rates of cancer survivorship intensify the importance of mitigating long-term side effects of radiation therapy, including fracture risk.  We have identified significant trabecular bone loss in mice four months after administration of low-dose (2 Gy), whole-body g-irradiation and propose to build upon these data to develop a rodent model that will be a foundation for future clinical studies.