A bioprocess that optimizes safe Human iPSCs for the treatment of osteoporotic fractures
Description: Throughout the lifespan, bone remodels in response to damage, such as fracture. However, diseases such as osteoporosis can cause impaired bone healing, increasing the risk of progression to non-repairing defects called fracture non-unions. Promoting the healing of fracture non-unions is a promising target for bone tissue engineering due to the limited success of current clinical treatment methods in patients with poor bone quality. However, there are still two main roadblocks in translating pluripotent stem cell (PSC) therapies into the clinic are: 1.) Incomplete differentiation leading to tumor formation and 2.) Clinically insufficient cell numbers. Our team has formulated a solution to both of these problems and will apply our safe PSC therapy to osteoporotic fracture repair, which is a global health concern with 1 in 4 Canadians suffering from an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime. The outcomes of this study provide fundamental knowledge required for developing safe and effective stem cell therapies to treat bone fractures in patients with osteoporosis.
Amount: CA$696,200
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: Project Grant
Start date: 2022-04-01
End date: 2027-03-31
Investigator: Roman Krawetz
Institution: University of Calgary
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: 180528_1
OpenAlex ID: G5709696944