ECU hosts statewide research conference

Paul DeVita, a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology, speaks with a fellow researcher(s) at the North Carolina Cartilage & Arthritis Research Alliance conference, held Oct. 3 at ECU. (Photo by Gretchen Baugh)

The North Carolina Cartilage & Arthritis Research Alliance held a conference Oct. 3 at East Carolina University.

“It is a gathering to enhance our regional discussion of current research advances in basic and clinical sciences with a variety of experimental approaches/techniques, give young investigators the opportunity to present, and to hear established researchers from North Carolina speak,” said Dr. Cheryl B. Knudson, chair of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Brody School of Medicine.

Knudson chaired the event organizing team, which included Warren Knudson and Emily Askew – also faculty in Anatomy and Cell Biology – and Paul DeVita and Zac Domire, both of the Department of Kinesiology.

The approximately 100 attendees represented Duke University, Wake Forest University, N.C. State University, UNC Chapel Hill and ECU. In addition, more than 25 academic posters were presented. Topics covered included different scaffolds (including silk) for drug delivery and osteochondral implants, how the forces generated by walking are transmitted to the nucleus of cells, epigenetic changes in adipose stem cells from mice on high fat diets, chondrocyte signaling, pain, animal models and clinical trials for osteoarthritis management.

“These have been great meetings with excellent science and good networking opportunities,” Knudson said of past NC-CARA events.