Abstract Robert L. Mauck, PhD is a Research Health Scientist and Co-Director of the Translational Musculoskeletal Research Center at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia. He is also the Mary Black Ralston Professor of Education and Research in Orthopaedic Surgery and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Director of the McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory. At Penn, Dr. Mauck also serves as the Co-Director of the Program in Musculoskeletal Regeneration in the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRM), is the Director of the Biomechanics Core of the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders (PCMD), and is a founding member of the Center for Engineering Mechanobiology (CEMB). Dr. Mauck’s research program is focused on the engineering and mechanobiology of musculoskeletal tissues, with a particular interest in restoring articular cartilage, the knee meniscus, and the intervertebral disc. Dr. Mauck’s team uses mechanical and molecular analyses to explore native tissue structure function relationships, and employs this information to enhance the functional properties of engineered constructs through focused technology development. His work explores progenitor cell function and efficacy in a variety of biomaterial contexts and across multiple length scales, from subcellular biophysical properties to translation of engineered constructs in large animal models and humans. The goal of his research program is to develop and deploy novel regenerative therapies to improve musculoskeletal health in Veterans and the population as a whole. Dr. Mauck is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and several foundations and private organizations. He is an active member of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS). Dr. Mauck is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research Spine and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, and the Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics. He has published >190 manuscripts (cited >10400 times), >300 abstracts, and >12 book chapters. Dr. Mauck has been recognized for his contributions to the field with the ISSLS Prize in Biomechanics (2008), the YC Fung Young Investigator Award from the ASME (2009), the BMES-CMBE ‘Rising Star’ Award (2011), the Penn Medicine Montague Research Prize (2013), election to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2014), the Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (2015), the Berton Rahn Research Award from the AO Foundation (2017), and was inducted as a Fellow of International Orthopaedic Research (FIOR) of the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (ICORS) College of Fellows (2019). He was also recently selected as the ‘Research Scientist of the Year’ at the CMC VAMC (2019).

Narrative This Research Career Scientist (RCS) application by Robert Mauck of the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia seeks support for a research program focused on issues of high relevance to the Veteran population. Dr. Mauck develops novel regenerative tools to improve outcomes and restore function in Veterans whose mobility has been compromised by musculoskeletal (MSK) injury or degeneration. Dr. Mauck develops novel material and stem cell- based therapeutics that are intended to speed the repair or replace cartilage, meniscus, and disc, and his team is actively translating these technologies into pre-clinical large animal models and humans. In addition to his scientific pursuits, Dr. Mauck is committed to supporting the next generation of VA- based scientists, and has mentored several clinicians/scientists to Career Development Awards through the RR&D Service.