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IU School of Medicine researchers recently made a significant impact at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada.

Musculoskeletal scientists recognized at world's largest bone research meeting

A group of researchers stands together outside a beautiful building

Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health researchers at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research's 2024 Annual Meeting.

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers recently made a significant impact at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research's 2024 Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada. The event is the world's largest and most diverse meeting in the bone, mineral and musculoskeletal research field, attracting over 2,500 attendees from more than 50 countries.

Over 40 IU researchers — many of whom are members of the IU School of Medicine's world-class Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health — participated in the conference either as award recipients, oral presenters, panel moderators or research poster presenters.

Lynda F. Bonewald, PhD, a professor of orthopaedic surgery and anatomy, cell biology and physiology at the IU School of Medicine and a Distinguished Professor at IU, was named the 2024 recipient of the ASBMR’s esteemed Louis V. Avioli Founders Award, which honors an ASBMR member for fundamental contributions to bone and mineral basic research. The award was first presented at the 2000 ASBMR Annual Meeting and includes a memorial lecture, a $2,000 honorarium and a plaque.

Bonewald is the founding director of the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health. Best known for her work in the study of osteocytes, she is responsible for tools used by researchers globally to determine osteocyte biology and function. Bonewald is currently studying bone to muscle crosstalk with aging.

"I'm deeply honored to receive this prestigious award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research," Bonewald said. "Louis Avioli was a visionary who established this society for the study of bone and mineral research. I think he would be proud of what his vision has become. I have the deepest respect for Dr. Avioli, his vision, this award in his name, and this society I call my home."

Melissa A. Kacena, PhD, the Edward H. and Yvonne J. Boseker Professor of Orthopaedics at the IU School of Medicine and a Chancellor's Professor at IU Indianapolis, was selected to give a plenary symposium at the annual meeting. Her presentation, entitled "Should We Rely on Artificial Intelligence for Bone Research and Health Care Management: The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Writing Scientific Review Articles," builds on previous studies published in the journal Current Osteoporosis Reports.

"As I hope can be appreciated by the sheer number of ICMH faculty and trainees that choose to present their research findings at ASBMR, the ASBMR annual meeting is the world’s biggest stage for bone research," Kacena said. "Being chosen by my ASBMR peers to present a plenary symposium was a great privilege."

Kacena was recently named the new director of the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health. Her research has focused on megakaryocyte-mediate regulation of bone mass, hematopoiesis, and fracture healing in normal, aging and diseased states. Her background spans the fields of engineering, cell biology, and clinical and translational sciences.

In addition to Kacena, five IU researchers gave oral presentations at the annual meeting:

  • Yukiko Kitase, DDS, PhD, and Matt Prideaux, PhD – Osteocyte PPARo is Protective Against Loss of Bone Strength due to Diet-Induced Obesity but by Distinct Mechanisms in Females Compared to Males
  • Gang Peng, PhD – Association of Daily Steps with Stress Fracture but not with Osteoporosis in the "All of Us" Research Program
  • Erik Imel, MD – ASBMR/ENDO session: The Importance of Phosphate in Health and Disease; FGF23 and Iron
  • Michael Econs, MD – Fractures are Highly Correlated with Bone Density and Inversely Correlate with Bone Turnover Markers in Autosomal Dominant Osteopetrosis: A Natural History Study (presented at the RBDA Pre-Meeting)

Three IU researchers served as moderators:

  • Fabrizio Pin, PhD – Oral Presentations: Crosstalk – Bone and Beyond
  • Anika Shimonty, PhD, MS – Oral Presentations – Networking Osteocytes
  • Lilian Plotkin, PhD – Plenary Symposium: Targeting Senescence – From Bench to Bedside

And 31 ICMH-affiliated scientists presented research posters:

  • Youngjun Lee, MS – Improving Early Chronic Kidney Disease Screening Using Machine Learning Classifiers and Textural Radiomics applied to HRpQCT Tibia Scans
  • Gang Peng, PhD – Association of Daily Steps with Stress Fracture but not with Osteoporosis in the "All of Us" Research Program
  • Pelumi Adedigba – Fructooligosaccharide Promotes Bone Formation and Mineralization Coincident with Alterations in PPARy/WNT Signaling, Calcium Homeostasis and T-cell Biology
  • Yusuke Matsuda, DDS, PhD – High IGF1 from osteoclast locally stimulates osteocyte senescence and RANKL expression in pagetic bone lesions
  • Michael Econs, MD – Fractures are Highly Correlated with Bone Density and Inversely Correlated with Bone Turnover Markers in Autosomal Dominant Osteopetrosis: A Natural History Study
  • Emmanuel Solis – Induced hypophosphatemia causes genomic reprogramming across the osteolineage as detected by single-cell RNAseq
  • Katie Chester – Kalirin Deletion in Osteocytes Decreases Craniofacial and Femoral Bone Mass
  • Erica Clinkenbeard, PhD – Interplay of polyamines on mineralization during iron deficiency and CKD-MBD
  • Sarah Ackah, MD, MPH – Change in HRpQCT measurements in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) during 2 years of treatment with cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) modulating therapy
  • Mizuho Kittaka, PhD – Declining Osteogenic Capability of Periodontal Ligament Cells as a Potential Mechanism of Age-associated Bone Loss in Periodontal Disease
  • Jonathan Lowery, PhD – Soft tissue manipulation enhances recovery of muscle mass and strength in a disuse model of sarcopenia
  • Katharina Kirschner – Macrophage Polarization and Bone Homeostasis: An Osteoimmunological Approach to Chronic Kidney Disease
  • Corinne Metzger, PhD – Trabecular and Intracortical Bone Formation Rate are not Strongly Related in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease
  • Fabrizio Pin, PhD – Osteocyte and muscle senescence is responsible for poor musculoskeletal recovery in colorectal cancer survivors
  • Imranul Alam, PhD – Effect of VX-770, a Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance (CFTR) Potentiator, on Bone Phenotypes in ADO2 Mice
  • Gabriel Ramirez – Sex-Dependent Changes in Body Composition and Bone Mineral Density in Wild Type Mice and the APP-SAA Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model
  • Lainey Hibbard – Spatial transcriptomics identified simultaneous in vivo transcriptional reprogramming in cortical bone, muscle, and bone marrow in modeled CKD
  • Roquelina Pianeta, DDS, PhD – Sex Hormones and Chromosomes Affect the Bone Marrow Cell Transcriptome Impacting the Osteoclast Differentiation and IL17 Activation Pathways in 4-Core Genotype (FCG) Mice
  • Connor Cunningham, MS – Targeting senescent osteocytes for reactivation of anabolic mechanical response in aged skeleton
  • Brett Mattingly – Conditional Loss of CaMKK2 in Osterix-Positive Osteoprogenitors Enhances Osteoblast Function in a Sex-Divergent Manner
  • Daniela Marin-Cadavid – Emergine Role of Nedd4 in Inflammatory Bone Loss in Mice
  • Farhan Sadik – Physics-driven Motion Simulation and Motion Correction Pipeline for HR-pQCT Bone Imaging 
  • Erik Imel, MD – Advancing Musculoskeletal Research Using the Indiana MSK Data Mart
  • Ed Greenfield, PhD – Halicin Combinations with Conventional Antibiotics are More Effective than Monotherapy Against Both Planktonic and Biofilm-residing Staphylococcus aureus
  • Sharon Moe, MD – Reference Data for Forearm and Leg Muscle Density Assessed by HRpQCT and Relationships with Physical Function
  • Paola Ortiz Gonzalez – Neuromuscular Dysfunction Precedes Muscle Atrophy and Bone Loss in a Murine Model of Male Colorectal Cancer
  • Wikum Bandara, MS – Establishing Temporal Bone Quality Changes in Progressive Chronic Kidney Disease: A Focus on Bone Water
  • Olatundun Awosanya – Fracture Risk in COVID-19 Patients Controlling for Corticosteroid Use and Acute Kidney Injury using TriNetX
  • Emily Seiden – Repurposing Romidepsin, a Structurally- and Functionally-Unique Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor (HDAVCi), for Metastatic Osteosarcoma
  • Yiming Lei – The Skeletal Phenotype of Aging Pkig-/- Mice Depends on Skeletal Size, Sex, and Environment

Learn more about the school’s expertise in musculoskeletal health.

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Andrea Zeek

Andrea works closely with IU School of Medicine researchers and leaders, as well as her colleagues in the Office of Strategic Communications and Visual Media, to elevate the school's research reputation. She has a master's degree in health and science journalism and over 10 years of experience in higher ed communications and marketing, including roles focused on media relations, brand marketing, science writing and internal communications. Before joining higher ed, Andrea worked as a newspaper reporter in Indiana.

The views expressed in this content represent the perspective and opinions of the author and may or may not represent the position of Indiana University School of Medicine.