The Steadman Philippon Research Institute in Vail, Colo., has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the use of bone marrow stem cells to delay osteoarthritis in the knee.
More than $2.8 million may be awarded to SPRI, which is required to match the funds over the next five years, pending availability of federal funds, according to an Aug. 20 news release.
The funding is part of NIH's Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project, which aims to accelerate clinical research around adult stem cells.
Johnny Huard, PhD, who joined SPRI as chief scientific officer in 2015, will act as principal investigator for the clinical trials.
Marc J. Philippon, MD, managing partner of The Steadman Clinic and co-chair of SPRI, and Scott Tashman, PhD, director of biomedical engineering at SPRI, will serve as co-principal investigators.
Enrollment for the clinical trials is expected to begin in the fall.
Past recipients of the Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project award include Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y., Harvard University in Boston and Yale University in New Haven, Conn.