The NIH T32 Training Grant in Joint Health supports post-doctoral fellowships and short-term medical student research. The grant is directed by Rick Sumner, PhD and co-directed by Markus Wimmer, PhD and Anne-Marie Malfait, MD, PhD.
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- NIH P30: Chicago Center on Musculoskeletal Pain (C-COMP)
- T32/P30 Joint Seminar Series
Overview
This multi-disciplinary post-doctoral training program in musculoskeletal biology emphasizes research training in joint health, encompassing three major programmatic areas: osteoarthritis, total joint replacement and small molecule therapeutics. Training will take place in the laboratories of NIH funded faculty in two basic science departments (Anatomy & Cell Biology and Physiology & Biophysics) and three clinical departments (Internal Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery and Pediatrics). The preceptors are internationally respected scientists and physician-scientists devoted to musculoskeletal research, with a special focus on osteoarthritis (including pain), cartilage and bone biology, total joint replacement, and muscle physiology. We encourage candidates with a medical degree to apply in addition to those with PhD’s. After completing our program, the trainees will be better able to become independent, team-oriented, principal investigators. The program also supports 3-month “short-term” slots for medical students. Trainees have many resources available including the T32/P30 Joint Seminar Series, which features internationally renowned scholars.
Mentor (PI) | Research area |
---|---|
Buchman, Aron, MD (Lab) |
Aging, motor system, frailty, risk factors, dementia |
Chubinskaya, Susan, PhD (Lab) |
Osteoarthritis, cartilage trauma, human donor tissue |
Fill, Michael, PhD (Lab) |
Small molecule therapeutics, Intracellular Ca, muscle, ryanodine receptor, inositol trisphosphate receptor |
Gupta, Vineet, PhD (Lab) |
Small molecule therapeutics, inflammation, autoimmune diseases, CD11b/CD18 agonists, lupus |
Hallab, Nadim James, PhD | Total joint replacement, Implant degradation, biological reactivity to implant debris, inflammasome, immunity, metal sensitivity |
Jacobs, Joshua, MD (Lab) |
Total joint replacement, retrieval analysis, biocompatibility, corrosion and wear |
Ko, Frank, PhD (Lab) | Musculoskeletal homeostasis, disease, and repair |
Lundberg, Hannah, PhD (Lab) |
Total joint replacement, computational biomechanics, finite element analysis |
Maki, Carl, PhD (Lab) |
Small molecule therapeutics, cancer cell biology, p53, therapy resistance, osteosarcoma |
Malfait, Anne-Marie, MD, PhD (Lab) |
Osteoarthritis, pain, heritable connective tissue diseases |
Miller, Rachel, PhD (Lab) |
Osteoarthritis, mechanical forces, pain, joint damage |
Plaas, Anna, PhD (Lab) |
Osteoarthritis, hyaluronan metabolism, inflammation, tendinopathy, regeneration |
Pourzal, Robin, PhD (Lab) |
Total joint replacement, failure analysis, retrieval studies, adverse local tissue reaction |
Pratap, Jitesh, PhD (Lab) |
Regulatory mechanisms of bone metastasis |
Ramos-Franco, Josefina, MD, PhD (Lab) |
Small molecule therapeutics, intracellular Ca signaling, chondrocytes, osteocytes, inositol trisphosphate receptor, OA pain |
Rios, Eduardo, Lic (Lab) |
Small molecule therapeutics, calcium signaling, skeletal muscle |
Ross, Ryan, PhD (Lab) |
Mineralization and mineral metabolism, the hormonal role of bone, skeletal effects of HIV and antiretrovirals, circulating biomarkers |
Shafikhani, Sasha, PhD (Lab) |
Small molecule therapeutics, wound healing, immune dysregulation, articular cartilage |
Spagnoli, Anna, MD | Fracture repair, joint development, osteogenesis, chondrogenesis, osteoarthritis |
Sumner, D. Rick, PhD (Lab) |
Total joint replacement, bone regeneration, bone quality, peri-implant osteolysis, biomarkers, osteoarthritis |
Wimmer, Markus, PhD (Lab) |
Total joint replacement, tribology, motion analysis, joint biomechanics, articular cartilage mechanobiology |
NIH T32 Training Grant in Joint Health in the News

Dr. Wilson in Dr. Sumner’s lab won the first place for the Postdoctoral Platform Presentation Award (sponsored by Developmental Dynamics) at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for Anatomy.
The title of her presentation was “Mineral Metabolism Markers in a Pig Model of Preterm Birth Mimic Clinical Findings”. The co-authors on the paper included Martin Rasmussen, Thomas Thymann and Per Sangild (all of the University of Copenhagen) and D. Rick Sumner (Rush).
The 2023 annual meeting of the American Association for Anatomy (Anatomy Connected 2023) had over 1,000 attendees and was held in Washington, D.C. on March 25-27. This meeting is the world’s largest gathering of anatomical science researchers and educators.

Postdoctoral trainee Catherine Yuh, PhD was awarded a grant from the AO Foundation for “Novel chemical spatial mapping of human intervertebral discs for future poly-omic and AI solutions.” Dr. Yuh is working with Dr. Robin Pourzal.

Catherine Yuh, PhD, instructor of Department of Orthopedic Surgery, is the 1st Place (Joint) winner of the Rush Mentoring Programs 8th Annual Symposium - Poster Competition.

Terese Geraghty earned her PhD in Immunology & Microbiology at Rush University Medical Center studying the efficacy and mechanisms of a small molecule agonist of integrin CD11b as a novel lung cancer immunotherapy. Soon after graduating, she was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship through Rush’s T32 Joint Health fellowship program working in Dr. Rachel Miller’s laboratory, where she investigated the contribution of immune cells, such as macrophages, in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) to the establishment and maintenance of osteoarthritis (OA) pain. During her T32 postdoc, she applied for an individual F32 postdoctoral fellowship grant entitled, “Elucidating how macrophages contribute to osteoarthritis pain.” She was recently awarded the F32 grant and continues to investigate the role of DRG macrophages in OA pain. She is excited to answer critical questions in the fields of osteoarthritis, neuro-immunology, and pain using support from her F32 grant.
The proposed research takes advantage of her mentors, Drs. Rachel Miller and Anne-Marie Malfait, respective expertise. Throughout her PhD and post-doctoral training, she has co-authored 8 publications and presented at more than 15 national and international conferences. Terese’s combined experiences and strongest research interests are in onco-immunology and neuro-immunity, and her long-term goal is to become a senior scientist in industry, where she can be at the forefront of translating new scientific discoveries to the clinic.

Dr. Ryan Ross has been named as 2021 Mentee of the Year Rush Mentoring Programs. Read More.

Dr. Rick Sumner has been named as 2021 Mentor of the Year Rush Mentoring Programs. Read More.

Dr. Rachel Miller has been named as 2021 Postdoctoral Mentor of the Year Rush Mentoring Programs. Read More.