Musculoskeletal disorders lead to chronic pain, disability and diminished quality of life. In addition, they negatively impact work productivity and health care costs. While they affect individuals at all stages of life, they are most prevalent in the fastest growing segment of our population, those over the age of 65, where they have been reported to affect 3 out of 4 individuals. The overall goal of the Center for Musculoskeletal Research (Center) is to foster interdisciplinary and collaborative work that leads to a deeper understanding of musculoskeletal science, in a way promotes new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. To this end, the Center will bring together musculoskeletal scientists using diverse investigative approaches, support and expand musculoskeletal research by those from other disciplines and foster the careers of Early Stage Investigators (ESIs) and those from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM. Center investigators will be supported by three Cores. The Administrative Core will offer an Enrichment Program, including Funding Initiatives, Seminars and an annual Symposium. The Translational Imaging and Phenotyping Core, and the Cellular and Molecular Analysis Core will offer education, assistance with experimental design, technical support and services for musculoskeletal imaging, histology, histomorphometry, isolation of murine musculoskeletal cells, bulk and single cell RNA sequencing of musculoskeletal cells, spatial transcriptomics of musculoskeletal tissues and directed differentiation of ES or iPS cells into cells of the musculoskeletal lineage. In response to feedback from Center Investigators, services have been expanded to support clinical and translational investigators, including HRPqCT, Clinical Phenotyping of bones and joints and an annotated repository of human tissues and bone cells. In addition, human histomorphometry services have been added. Feedback and evaluation are solicited from the Advisory Committee, by surveys of Center scientists and by their membership in 5 Committees charged with identifying and supporting new initiatives directed at promoting collaborations and enhancing the impact of the research of Center investigators. Based on the success of these initiatives, the Center has expanded to serve a community of investigators from over 40 Divisions/ Departments in 17 academic institutions in the greater Boston and New England area that use diverse investigative approaches to address innovative hypotheses in musculoskeletal science, including developmental biology, cell biology, genetics, biomechanics, tissue engineering, arthritis, tendon biology and human clinical investigation. Thus, the Center will continue to enhance collaborations and support the impact Center investigators’ research, to expand its community by supporting musculoskeletal research by ESIs and by established investigators from other disciplines, and enhance diversity through outreach programs. The Center is committed to sharing its innovations with the community of musculoskeletal scientists worldwide.

Musculoskeletal diseases are among the most prevalent health conditions and lead to chronic pain, disability, psychological distress and decreased quality of life. Thus, research into the prevention and treatment of these disorders is critically needed. The overall goal of the Center for Musculoskeletal Research is to foster interdisciplinary and collaborative work that leads to a deeper understanding of musculoskeletal science, in a way promotes new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases.