Vanderbilt Center for Bone Biology

New findings could explain the link between chronic stress and reduced survival in women diagnosed with breast cancer, and could lead to new strategies to improve treatment outcomes.

Mustafa Unal, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, has been selected by the Orthopedic Research Society to receive its 2017 Alice L. Jee Young Investigator Award for work that potentially will improve the clinical assessment of bone strength and quality.

Medical studies have established that people with type 2 diabetes are more susceptible to fractures, but the biological process that weakens their bones is not understood.

The elasticity of a scaffold used for healing skin wounds is a key factor in promoting regeneration versus scarring.

New findings show that fibrin, a protein that was thought to play a key role in fracture healing, is not required, shifting understanding of how fractures heal.

The rigidity of the bone extracellular matrix increases the ability of tumor cells to destroy bone, suggesting new targets for anticancer drug development.

The protein neurofibromin acts as a brake in a signaling pathway that is important in bone development, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.