Mission of the Working Group:

The working group aims to address a need to support CSR musculoskeletal researchers to expand their studies from their original research toward the understanding of the mechanism of joint diseases, including osteoarthritis, osteoimmunology and joint structure pathology. The working group directors will provide consultative services to CSR members to embark on a pilot project in these specific areas.  The services will include identification of scientists with expertise in the area of interest, support for the design of studies to obtain preliminary data (including choice of model systems, specific experimental approaches), advice about potential pitfalls and data interpretation.   The working group members will provide a platform to discuss experimental problems, plan for workshops and educational activities in this area.

 

The expertise of the core directors is as follows:

• Li Zeng will advise on osteoarthritis models, including injury-induced animal models and human in vitro models, histological analysis of joint structures and advanced imaging technologies to visualize joint changes.
• Iannis Adamopoulos will advise on models of inflammatory arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis, as well as histological and osteoimmunological analysis of these models.
• Jaehyuck Shim will advise on models of rheumatoid arthritis, including TNF mouse models, SKG model of RA, and serum transfer arthritis models. He will also advise on approaches of microCT, histology, morphology and AAV targeting.
• Eva Liu will advise on the analysis of the enthesis, including pathophysiology, molecular techniques, histology, mouse models and imaging.

A consultation with at least one working group director is required prior to the studies being undertaken.  Consultations during preparation of the submission are encouraged.

How does the working group work:

The service will be offered in the following ways:

• P30 investigator approaches the working group and presents specific requests.
• The working group as a group will discuss how to best support the studies proposed. Then we will identify the investigator within our group with the most appropriate expertise to support the CSR member.
• The investigator will submit a budget, which can be consultative services including training in experimental techniques and/or technical working group services.
• The working group will review the request and the budget (Expertise and technical).

Consultation structure:

• First meeting: free: 1hr limit.
• The second meeting will be charged at $100/hr.

Analysis costs

• Refer to CSR web site for cost of microCT, histology and histomorphometry consultation. Histomorphometry consultations will be provided by the Arthritis and Joint Structure Working Group directors