ExCarBon Summer School 2022 in Munich
After a Corona related break, the ExCarBon Summer School is back in 2022. Our hosts this year, the AG Aszódi, invited us to the Institute of Anatomy of the LMU Munich from June 29th to 30th. In addition to presentations by the consortium members, two guest speakers, Prof. Brachvogel and Prof. Beier, presented their research results. As always, the program was very exciting and informative, and led to lively discussions, which continued during the evening dinner at the Schiller Bräu.
Guest Speakers
Prof. Dr. Bent Brachvogel
Head of Experimental Neonatology at at the University Hospital Cologne
Prof. Brachvogels research focuses on a wide range of developmental factors that have a decisive influence on a child's health. Various risk factors
such as nutritional disorders, inflammatory processes or premature birth can significantly limit the viability and quality of life of a newborn, and his lab want to understand the molecular
causes of these changes. Furthermore, his research aims to understand the causes and mechanisms of musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Prof. Brachvogel
talked about “Mitochondria and matrix organisation - novel insights into respiration dependent endochondral ossification process".
Prof. Dr. Frank Beier
Chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Western Ontario
Prof. Beier is the Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Research at the University of Western Ontario and a member of Western’s Bone and Joint Institute. His lab
explores mechanisms controlling cartilage and joint biology, using genetically engineered mice in combination with surgical, dietary and activity manipulations. One of his interest is to identify
and study mechanisms, which start and drive osteoarthritis with the long term aim of identifying new treatments for this disease. Prof. Beier talked about “Epigenetic and genetic
mechanisms in osteoarthritis pathogenesis”.
ExCarBon Summer School 2018 in Frankfurt
The second summer school of the research group ExCarBon took place from July 13th to 14th of 2018 in Frankfurt am Main at the Orthopedic University Hospital Friedrichsheim. Like last year, the program featured mature results, updates on work in progress and issues encountered, and lively discussions. This summer school was again an excellent opportunity for young researchers and students to expand their scientific horizon and to get in personal contact with the experts in the field of OA. This year, we invited three experts in the field of osteoarthritis to give a keynote lecture. We are very delighted and thankful that they accepted our invitation and shared the big picture of biomechanical, immunometabolic, and developmental aspects with us.
Guest Speakers
Prof. Ali Mobasheri
Professor of Musculoskeletal Physiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, UK and the President of the
Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI)
His main area of research is cartilage biology and the identification, validation and qualification of new biomarkers for degenerative
and inflammatory diseases of joints like osteoarthritis. Prof. Mobasheri talked about “Immunometabolic aspects of
osteoarthritis".
Prof. Andrew A. Pitsillides
Professor of Skeletal Dynamics, Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK
The focus of his research is on skeletal mechanobiology during development, growth, adulthood and ageing. Prof. Pitsillides talked about
“Evolving biomechanical aspects of osteoarthritis".
Prof. Brian Johnstone
Professor / Research Director, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Oregon Health and Science University, Portland,
USA
His main areas of expertise are stem cell and chondrocyte biology during development and cartilage pathology and musculoskeletal tissue engineering.
Prof. Johnstone talked about “Considering development as the inspiration for joint regeneration is very trendy, but is it valid?".
ExCarBon Summer School 2017 in Regensburg
From July 28-29, 2017, ExCarBon hosted its first Summer School in Regensburg to bring together all participating researchers. The primary goal of
this summer school was to present and discuss current research results and emerging issues within the ExCarBon projects. The unconstrained character of the event was intended to foster
communication between the different projects, and the lecture program was intended to give everyone the opportunity to present and
discuss their data. In this environment, especially PhD students and young post-docs should gain experience in scientific networking. In this
sense, looking back, the Summer School was a great success.
In addition to the ExCarBon members, two guest speakers and renowned experts in the field of osteoarthritis presented their research results: Prof. Dr. Gerjo J.V.M. van Osch and Prof. Dr. Tonia Vincent. They both presented their scientific achievements and current work and discussed in depth research questions and science related to osteoarthritis specifically with the young scientists during the meeting.
Guest Speakers
Prof. Dr. Gerjo J.V.M. van Osch
Head of the Connective Tissue Cells and Repair Group at the Department of Orthopaedics and Otorhinolaryngology at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam
Prof. van Osch is focusing her research interest on cellular responses in degenerating and regenerating connective tissues in osteoarthritis and tendinosis with a special emphasis on anabolic processes in tissue repair.
Prof. Dr. Tonia Vincent
Professor of musculoskeletal biology at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at the University of Oxford
Prof. Vincents main research interests include pathways that drive mechanosensitive responses in cartilage, the role of the pericellular matrix in determining these responses and how they modulate osteoarthritis in vivo.