Dr. Karin Payne and Dr. Stephanie Bryant received a four-year NSF Collaborative Research Award entitled: “RECODE: Organoid model of growth plate injury”. This a multidisciplinary award across the CU Anschutz and CU Boulder campuses that includes Co-PIs Dr. Robert McLeod, Dr. Franck Vernerey and Dr. Michael Zuscik. The overarching goal for this project is to gain fundamental insight into the link between biophysical cues, cellular differentiation, and cellular organization that leads to the development of a functioning growth plate.

Congratulations to all authors, especially trainees from the Payne, Bryant and Ferguson labs, for a new publication in npj Regenerative Medicine! This project includes mechanical characterization of rabbit growth plate to guide the creation of a 3D printed growth plate mimetic composite developed with 3D printing technology and a cartilage-mimetic hydrogel, and eventually tested in a rabbit model of growth plate injury. We are excited to continue developing this potential treatment for growth plate injuries.

The Payne Lab attended the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society in Dallas, TX. Aditya Mantha, a medical student researcher in the group, presented his work on single-cell RNA sequencing data from the repair tissue isolated after growth plate injury in a rat model. Dr. Kristine Fischenich presented her work on “Onset of skeletal deformities in a rabbit model of growth plate injury is delayed with a 3D printed biomimetic composite” and received a New Investigator Recognition Award. Congratulations to both!