Arthritis represents a painful and debilitating family of joint diseases that is characterized by progressive degeneration of the articular cartilage; however, there are currently few disease-modifying treatments available.  Our lab is using CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering of pluripotent stem cells to develop tissue replacements that possess the capability for biologic drug delivery with tunable, inducible, or feedback-controlled, auto-regulated biological responses. Using this approach, we have recently developed synthetic “mechanogenetic” gene circuits that express therapeutic transgenes in response to defined mechanical signals, or synthetic “chronogenetic” gene circuits that delivery drugs on a prescribed timed basis. Such “smart” cells and living implants can provide controlled drug delivery and immunomodulatory responses for a wide variety of conditions.

About Farshid Guilak, PhD

Dr. Farshid Guilak is the Mildred B. Simon Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University and co-director of the Washington University Center of Regenerative Medicine.  He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University, working with Dr. Van Mow. His laboratory focuses on multidisciplinary approaches that combine biology and bioengineering to study arthritis, with the goal of developing new cell-based therapies. He is the past president of the ORS and served as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Biomechanics for 20 years. He has won numerous international awards for his research and including the Kappa Delta Award 3 times and 5 different awards for excellence in mentoring. In the past year, he was elected in the National Academies of Engineering, Medicine, and Inventors for advances in the fields of regenerative medicine and mechanobiology.

About Van C Mow

Dr. Van C. Mow is one of the earliest researchers in biomechanics. Throughout his more than 50-year career, Dr. Mow has made outstanding and brilliant contributions to orthopedic biomedical engineering, including biomechanics studies on articular cartilage, intervertebral disk, knee meniscus, diarthrodial joint mechanics, joint lubrication, and osteoarthritis.

Among Dr. Mow's many achievements, he was the founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science from 2000 to 2011. To honor Dr. Mow for his many contributions to the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the School has created the annual Van C. Mow Lecture. Each fall, a distinguished leader in the field of biomedical engineering is invited to deliver this lecture.