Director's Message: Diseases of mineralized tissues such as bone and teeth or of the muscles that control bone movement result in significant health costs in terms of suffering, loss of work and productivity, and even death. There is a tremendous need for new approaches to treating musculoskeletal diseases. Of the 57.9 million Americans injured annually, more than one-half incur injuries to the musculoskeletal system. The most common bone disease is osteoporosis, which leads to fragile bones that break easily. Hip fractures account for 300,000 hospitalizations per year; 20% of those patients die within a year and 20% are relegated to long-term care facilities such as a nursing home. Associated muscle weakness and wasting compound the consequences of immobility. Biomaterials will be required for the estimated 500,000 joint replacements performed annually, and new surgical techniques and rehabilitation strategies will help speed patient recovery. Other diseases of mineralized tissue include dental diseases and craniofacial conditions that require procedures ranging from tooth restorations to major reconstruction of facial hard and soft tissues. Children lose more than 50 million school hours and adults close to 200 million work hours each year due to dental visits because of deteriorating oral conditions and dental disease. Scientists are making important discoveries in the lab that could be used to treat patients with diseases of mineralized tissue. Conditions such as obesity and diseases such as cancer can have a devastating impact on the health of the bones, teeth, and muscles and affect patients of all backgrounds and ages. The United States is facing a national epidemic with regards to obesity. Obesity and inactivity in the population are leading to fragile, weak bones in children and account for more than 300,000 deaths per year. While new discoveries are being made as to how exercise promotes musculoskeletal strength, the population is increasingly sedentary. Injuries, chronic disease, and obesity all result in long-term declines in skeletal and muscle strength. Basic understandings of how bone cells respond to mechanical load and the cross-talk with associated muscles will help to define therapeutic strategies for combating changes in skeletal microarchitecture brought on by inactivity. Center Overview Center Goal: To form a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary center that would include investigators from the Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Computing and Engineering to focus on dental and musculoskeletal health. This UMKC Center of Excellence would integrate all investigators, whether basic or clinical, into a powerful translational team to prevent and treat diseases of mineralized tissue which includes teeth, cartilage, bone, and muscle. This goal aligns with the NIH roadmap initiative and focuses on mineralized tissue research with regards to obesity, cancer, osteoporosis, bone trauma, aging, metabolic bone disease, and diseases of oral tissue. Not only could findings be applied to biomaterials and composite research, medical devices, diagnostics, and clinical imaging, but can also be expanded to veterinary practice and diagnostics and treatment of animal dental and bone disease. Objectives: The major objective is to expand the ability to make new discoveries in the basic sciences, translate these findings into treatments, diagnoses, and therapies for mineralized tissue disease into the clinics, the community, and into the commercial sector. There are four major objectives for this center;
The Partnerships have been forged between the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Computer and Engineering, and the School of Dentistry. This Center brings together and facilitates collaboration among faculty from several of UMKC’s life and health sciences schools and their Kansas City clinical partners. UMKC's health professions schools are located on Hospital Hill, adjacent to several of the region’s top clinical care facilities. Primary clinical partners include Truman Medical Center, Children’s Mercy Hospital, and Saint Luke’s Hospital. Together, with the UMKC School of Medicine (SOM) and School of Nursing (SON), they offer a unique patient base that will provide rich information for research and clinical applications into diseases of mineralized tissue. Researchers in the School of Nursing provide experience in implementation of clinical findings to practice and assessment of the impact of changes in clinical practice on health outcomes. Bioengineers at the School of Computing and Engineering (SCE) have generated significant numbers of patents and devices in biometrics and the school is developing a program in biomedical engineering that integrates with the health professional schools. The UMKC School of Dentistry (SOD) is the only dental school in either Missouri or Kansas. The Bone Biology and Biomaterials/Bioengineering research programs are recognized nationally and internationally and have researchers with long histories of competitive federal support for their work. Investigators in Bone Biology include molecular biologists, engineers, protein chemists, and geneticists with expertise in the area of the genomics, proteomics, and transgenics in the study of mineralized tissue. The Biomaterials program includes investigators with international reputations in biomaterials for the repair and regeneration of tissues. Administrative Structure
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