U of I earns $598K to improve tendon health and healing research

MOSCOW, Idaho — Dec. 12, 2024 — University of Idaho is leveraging three unique laboratory capabilities in an interdisciplinary effort to grow understanding of human tendon development and healing after injury. 

A group of U of I faculty members from the College of Engineering and the College of Science, led by College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Distinguished Professor Carolyn Hovde Bohach, were recently awarded a $598,537 grant from the IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) to design and evaluate a biomaterial and to support further research into identifying the cell responses that signal tendon tissue development.

"We’re leveraging complementary skill sets in chemistry and engineering to lead transformative research at University of Idaho,” said Bohach, principal investigator and Idaho INBRE director. “This award allows our students to participate in research to better understand the mechanisms of tendon tissue formation and our faculty members to ultimately engineer tendon tissue replacements and design regenerative therapies.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, there are more than 32 million reported tendon injuries in the U.S. each year. Because tendons undergo repetitive motions and sustain major physical forces, they’re prone to injury. Once injured, treatment may involve suturing the tendon through surgery, followed by rehabilitative therapy. Re-rupture is a common occurrence, and patients rarely regain the mechanical strength they once had. 

The cross-college effort maximizes unique laboratory capabilities in three laboratories on the Moscow campus to study how different identified molecules within a unique bio-friendly material initiate cellular responses to signal a cell to become tendon tissue, known as tenogenesis. The grant funds undergraduate and graduate student research experiences in all three labs.

Molecules known to initiate tenogenesis cell responses are synthesized in College of Science Associate Professor Kris Waynant’s lab. The unique hydrogel, a biomaterial capable of isolating the specific signals that encourage tenogenesis, is created in Chemical Engineering Associate Professor Matthew Bernards’ lab. The impacts of each cell signal and ability to induce tendon formation are assessed within Biological Engineering Associate Professor Nathan Schiele’s Tendon Tissue Engineering Laboratory. 

Discoveries in this area could allow doctors to signal cells to become tendon tissue in a laboratory setting, developing tissues with the same mechanical strength of tendon that can be sutured into patients with injury.

“U of I’s unique laboratory capabilities, faculty expertise and interdisciplinary and collaborative focus helps us continue to lead in this crucial area of human health and understanding,” said Christopher T. Nomura, vice president for research and economic development. “Research awards like these open hands-on opportunities to our students, pairing participation in groundbreaking research with excellent biological and chemical engineering and science education.”

This project, “Establishing a developmentally inspired biomaterial platform to direct stem cell tenogenesis,” was funded under the University of Idaho Idaho INBRE program, funded through DHHS NIH under award 3P20GM103408. The total Idaho INBRE project funding is $20,203,883, of which 100% is the federal share.    

ASSETS AVAILABLE: Photos are available for download.

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Media Contact

Matthew Bernards
Associate Professor
U of I College of Engineering
208-885-2150
mbernards@uidaho.edu

Alexiss Turner
Marketing and Communications Manager
U of I College of Engineering
208-885-7511
alexisst@uidaho.edu