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The Lotz Lab


The theme of our research is to discover molecular and cellular mechanisms that are dysfunctional in musculoskeletal tissues during early stages of pathogenesis to create a foundation for therapeutic interventions to prevent disease onset and slow progression. Diseases of interest include osteoarthritis, meniscus injury and intervertebral disc degeneration.

Our general experimental approach is to analyze normal and diseased human tissues for changes in gene and protein expression. Genes and proteins that are differentially expressed are then tested for function using cell culture and mouse models. This allows for prioritization of genes and proteins as promising therapeutic candidates which are validated using genetic and pharmacologic approaches.