Congratulations to Manuel Ramirez, a graduate student in the lab of Mark Buckley, who was awarded a summer fellowship from the Fight for Sight Foundation.

Summer Student Fellowships are available to undergraduates, graduate and medical students who are interested in pursuing eye-related clinical or basic research. FFS occupies a unique niche in the eye research foundation community -- its primary mission is to support and encourage promising scientists early in their careers.

Fight for Sight (FFS) was founded in 1946 by Mildred Weisenfeld, a young woman with retinitis pigmentosa, to encourage and fund research in ophthalmology, vision and related sciences. The goal of Fight for Sight is to encourage and facilitate research in detection, understanding, prevention, treatment and cures of visual disorders, especially those diseases leading to impaired sight or blindness.

Congratulations to BME Professors Mark Buckley and Catherine K. Kuo whose project will receive a University Research award this year. University Research Awards, previously known as Provost Multidisciplinary Awards, provide seed money on a competitive basis for innovative research projects that are likely to attract external support when sufficiently developed. Below is a description of their research project:

Role of Mechanics in Etiology of Congenital Talipes Equinovarus: Catherine K. Kuo, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Mark Buckley, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering; and Natasha O'Malley, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics.

To develop novel in vitro and in vivo experimental models to investigate the role of aberrant mechanical loading of embryonic tendons in the development of clubfoot. The findings of this study will help motivate novel prevention or treatment strategies for nearly 200,000 babies born with clubfoot each year.

BME Professor Mark Buckley and his collaborators A. Samuel Flemister (Orthopaedics), Alayna Loiselle (Center for Musculoskeletal Research) and Michael Richards (Surgery) were awarded a 2016 AOFAS Research Grant earlier this month for their project entitled, “In Vitro Assessment of the Role of Mechanical Strain in the Pathogenesis and Reversal of Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy.” This was announced at AOFAS Specialty Day on March 5 in Orlando, Florida. Insertional Achilles tendinopathy (IAT) is a common and painful disorder that responds poorly to conservative (i.e., non-operative) care. Improved outcomes for IAT patients require interventions that target the fundamental causes of the disease. Thus, this study seeks to elucidate 1) how mechanical deformations occurring in the Achilles tendon insertion can lead to IAT pathogenesis (using an in vitro model); and 2) whether the IAT associated changes can be reversed in vitro by specific mechanical loading regimens. The findings of this study will motivate effective, targeted non-surgical therapies for IAT.