Posted on June 20, 2001 at 8:30 a.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — UAB’s (University of Alabama of Birmingham) Center for Metabolic Bone Disease (CMBD) has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a Core Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders. The five-year, $2 million grant is from the National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).
“The addition of this new core to the CMBD will enhance the center’s ability to conduct research and provide clinical care for patients with bone diseases such as osteoporosis,” says center director Dr. Jay M. McDonald, professor and chair of the department of pathology and director of the CMBD. “We feel the center has the potential to make rapid and significant impact on the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and related bone diseases. The center also positions UAB as a leader in the United States in bone disease research and clinical care.”
Eight million American women and two million men have osteoporosis, and 18 million more people have low bone density and are at risk for osteoporosis.
The CMBD promotes new understanding in bone disease through stimulating research with a multi-disciplinary approach. The center features 83 scientists from a wide variety of academic backgrounds.
Clinically, the center directs the Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Clinic, located in the Kirklin Clinic in Birmingham. The clinic provides a thorough evaluation of referred patients, including an assessment of bone mineral density, nutritional counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation.
UAB is one of only five universities nationally to be designated a core center in musculoskeletal disorders from NIAMS and received the highest ranking of all universities that submitted applications.
“The primary disease focus is osteoporosis,” says McDonald. “But the effectiveness of the program is enhanced by the inclusion of investigators with expertise in periodontal disease, rheumatoid arthritis and bioengineering.”
The core center has a research base of 33 investigators and contains three core units; an administrative core, a human bone cell production core and a histomorphometry and molecular analyses core, all of which provide unique support for researchers at UAB.
A main goal of the center is to identify key mechanisms underlying bone loss and regeneration, as well as understand the factors that regulate these processes. Center researchers from multiple schools and departments within UAB give the center a collaborative approach to the development of new therapies.