IUPUI Professor Lands $2M NIH Grant

Joseph Wallace (photo courtesy IUPUI)

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a nearly $2 million grant to an IUPUI professor. Joseph Wallace, associate professor of biomedical engineering, says the five-year grant will be used to research ways to build bone mass and improve bone quality in people with osteoporosis and diabetes.

Wallace’s research project, "Targeting Collagen as an Interventional Approach to Improve Bone Material Properties," involves using collagen to improve bone material properties, according to the university. It is being funded through the NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

"We’re trying to use combination therapies, where we can both increase the amount of material that’s present but at the same time modify the quality of that tissue to enhance its ability to bear load without fracture," Wallace said. "That’s the focus of this grant, to understand those quality-based effects that can enhance bone fracture resistance."

Wallace says the grant will allow him to continue research that could have a far-reaching impact for those suffering from diseases with musculoskeletal complications. You can learn more about the research effort by clicking here.