Joining Elliott in leading the major components of the center will be
Fowler, the co-director, and Professors Millie Sullivan
and Liyun Wang, both from the College of Engineering, who will co-direct
the center’s Multiscale Assessments Research Core.
The fact that four women will hold all key leadership roles in the
center underscores the legacy of success of a previous COBRE focusing on
osteoarthritis, which Thomas Buchanan, George W. Laird Professor of
Mechanical Engineering, directed.
“That COBRE had a strong mentoring program to foster the development
of women biomedical researchers at UD, and several members of our new
center’s team, including myself and Professor Wang, participated in it,”
Elliott said. “It’s been inspiring to see the impact it has had on
women’s leadership and UD’s research community at large.”
Since joining the UD faculty in 2019, Fowler has launched a
mentoring program for faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences,
where several assistant professors recently have won prestigious NIH R01
grants.
“Similarly, at the new center, we have a deep commitment to mentoring
and career development to support the transition of junior faculty to
extramurally funded research investigators,” Fowler said. “This is
absolutely essential in cultivating and retaining new biomedical
research leaders. We are fortunate to have the UD ADVANCE Institute at
the University, which will serve as a critical collaborator and faculty
resource.”
On the technology side, new scientific instruments and techniques,
from in vivo micro-computed tomography to photoacoustic imaging systems
to customized biomechanical manipulation systems, will allow researchers
to investigate the interactions of cells and tissues with their
environment. These state-of-the-art tools will be the domain of the
Multiscale Assessments Research Core, under the leadership of Sullivan
and Wang. The core will be located in newly renovated space on the
second floor of the Life Sciences Research Facility.
"This research core will serve not only as an intellectual hub for
the DCMR community, but also as a gateway to access other superb partner
cores such as UD’s Bio-Imaging Center," Wang said.
The COBRE funding also will expand and reorganize the staffing model
for core resources relevant to the center’s work, including increased
support for experimental design and execution.
"The organization of experimental resources and staff under the core
umbrella will create a single starting point for our scientists to
obtain scientific and technical guidance involving biomechanical,
biophysical and bioimaging analysis of musculoskeletal tissues, and it
will enable experimental approaches to be refined, validated, codified
and shared more broadly," Sullivan said.
With more than 60 researchers working in musculoskeletal and
rehabilitation science across the University, UD is a growing force in
the field. The Delaware Center for Musculoskeletal Research will serve
as a catalyst for further developing a nationally recognized network of
researchers dedicated to improving musculoskeletal health.
“These disorders can have a devastating impact on lives,” Elliott
said. “Through our studies, we will be working to understand how tissues
function, how they break down with aging and injury, and how they heal.
Ultimately, we want people to have the ability to take care of
themselves, to live without pain and to enjoy an active lifestyle.”
Article by Tracey Bryant;
Illustration by Jeffrey C. Chase | Video courtesy of Dawn Elliott and Elise Corbin
Published March 17, 2021