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Assistant Professor Stacyann Bailey of the Biomedical Engineering Department recently received the notable John Haddad Young Investigator Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). The honor funded her to participate in the 2023 Advances in Mineral Metabolism | Annual Meeting in Snowmass, Colorado, from April 3 to 7. The award enabled Bailey to present her research on “Extracellular matrix quality and clinic-pathologic factors associated with tumor-induced bone fragility.”

The purpose of the Haddad grant program is to facilitate the professional development of young basic and clinical scientists in the field of bone and mineral metabolism.

As Bailey explains about her presentation at the AIMM meeting, “I covered two objectives during the talk: determining the influence of metastatic lesion types on human vertebral bone architecture, composition, and mechanical properties; and identifying targetable patient factors to mitigate tumor-induced bone fragility.”

The Bailey Research Lab investigates the mechanisms of increased skeletal fragility caused by cancer and cancer-related treatment. Bailey explains that the outcomes will aid in the development of new strategies to predict, manage, and mitigate bone fractures, which can improve overall survival and quality of life in patients.

Bailey says that her transdisciplinary research “is driven in part by the collaboration between immunology, drug delivery, bioengineering, epidemiology, and biostatistics. The long-term goal is to understand the multiple length scale mechanisms implicated in skeletal fragility and the interaction between the skeletal and other organ systems in the development of musculoskeletal pathologies.”

The ASBMR is the leading professional, scientific, and medical society established to bring together clinical and experimental scientists involved in the study of bone, mineral, and musculoskeletal research.

“By providing financial support to attend the AIMM-ASBMR meeting,” says the ASBMR website, “it hopes to promote the participation of promising young investigators at the meeting. Such support is intended to encourage the appropriate and necessary interaction with senior investigators and leaders in the field, which will help to advance the careers of young investigators.”

The ASBMR website adds that “Those selected to attend the meeting [are] required to present their research in a 15-20 minute presentation. They should be prepared for frequent interruptions of questions and comments during a 30-minute time slot.” (May 2023)

Article posted in Research