Bethel Musculoskeletal Research Center

04/15/2026

Congratulations to this year’s cohort of Summer Student Research Program (SSRP) participants. This year’s program welcomes six talented students from both within and beyond the University of Pittsburgh.

The SSRP provides an immersive experience combining hands-on laboratory research with interactive classroom learning. Under the guidance of expert mentors in the BMRC Core Labs, students develop technical research skills while strengthening professional competencies. Classroom sessions focus on communication and networking, preparing competitive applications for medical or graduate school, and delivering a clear, effective research “elevator pitch.”

Congratulations to Diya Bhagat, Joseph Perry, Caelan McCormack, Derek Favorite, Ann George, and Matthew Shi, and thank you to the BMRC faculty and staff for their mentorship and support.

03/31/2026

Always a pleasure to see BMRC lab alumni sharing knowledge! Gianluca Vadalà, MD, PhD, Ferguson Spine Lab alum, was tapped for the 2026 ORS Guest Nation Spotlight Session at this year's Annual Meeting. Dr Vadalà spoke on cell therapy for low back pain (check out the latest news on the LB3P study from our Ferguson Spine Lab on our website here: https://www.fergusonlab.pitt.edu/lb3p-low-back-pain-research-study).



Orthopaedic Research Society

03/30/2026

The Annual Meeting continues today! We've got Ferguson Spine Lab members Drs. Julia Bezerra Martins Chagas de Oliveira and Prashanta Silwal giving their poster presentations today at Poster Session 2 at 4:45pm. If you're at the meeting, stop by and say hello.

Orthopaedic Research Society

03/30/2026

Congratulations to our 2025-2026 class of ORS/Bethel Fellows. We are thrilled to honor Dr. Mark (Min Kyu) Kim and Dr. Shirley (Nina) Tang in-person at this year's Orthopaedic Research Society Annual Meeting.

We are proud to support all five of our Fellows and are looking forward to your presentations at our upcoming BMRC Symposium in September of this year.

Orthopaedic Research Society

03/30/2026

Our team has had a great time at so far! In addition to nearly 15 poster presentations from our various labs, members of our BMRC core laboratories also hosted numerous podium presentations on topics from total knee arthroplasty to how acid-metformin conjugate hydrogel enhances healing of cold-induced skin injuries.

Congratulations to those who are being recognized at the meeting this weekend, including NIRA Finalist Dr. Shotaro Kamijo and ISFR Poster Award Finalist Dr. Vasyl Pastukh.

We also got to acknowledge this year's Bethel Fellows. More photos from that to come!

Orthopaedic Research Society

03/10/2026

We’re excited to highlight the latest “Meet the Researcher” feature introducing Vasyl Pastukh, MD, PhD, MHM.

Dr. Pastukh’s work and path to our center at the University of Pittsburgh exemplifies the impact of interdisciplinary research, bridging strong clinical programs, engineering expertise and translational science to advance biomaterial and pharmacological strategies to enhance bone and soft tissue healing.

Read more about his background, research focus, and the best advice he ever received on our website today:

https://www.bethel.pitt.edu/2026/03/10/meet-the-researcher-vasyl-pastukh-md-phd-mhm/

02/18/2026

Up to $30,000 for Early-Career Scientists!

The ORS and the Orland Bethel Musculoskeletal Research Center (BMRC) are partnering again to support early-career scientists. The BMRC/ORS Fellowship funds research to drive innovative treatments for diseases, aiming to empower early-career scientists by helping them generate critical preliminary data for larger grants.

Learn more and apply: https://www.ors.org/orsbethel-fellowship-grant/

01/21/2026

We are proud to share a transformational milestone for the Orland Bethel Family Musculoskeletal Research Center (BMRC) this morning.

The Orland Bethel Family Foundation has committed an additional $53.5 million to expand the BMRC - bringing the Bethel family’s support of Pitt’s musculoskeletal research enterprise to nearly $100 million over the last five years.

This strategic investment will accelerate innovation across the BMRC. It will establish three endowed professorships, support mid-career investigators through the new Bethel Prize, expand the BMRC Biobank, strengthen executive leadership, and launch new commercialization and innovation programs to connect research with industry and venture capital.

The gift also advances our mission to translate science into real-world impact - supporting personalized medicine and the next generation of musculoskeletal research leaders.

We are deeply grateful to Orland Bethel and the Bethel Family Foundation for their visionary partnership and continued belief in the future of musculoskeletal research at Pitt and UPMC.

More information on this transformative gift here: https://www.pittwire.pitt.edu/features-articles/2026/01/21/bethel-family-musculoskeletal-research-center-gift

The gift will advance the research, innovation and training efforts of a center that is already at the forefront of discovery.

01/20/2026

Hot off the presses - new research review from our Ferguson Spine Lab, this time published in the journal "biomolecules".

Low back pain ranks among the leading causes of global disability, with intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) recognized as a principal pathological driver. This review summarizes current knowledge on lactate production, transport, and clearance in the intervertebral disc, as well as emerging evidence for the roles of lactate in disc health and pathophysiology. In addition, future directions aimed at advancing our understanding of lactate biology and evaluating its potential as a therapeutic target for intervertebral disc degeneration are outlined.

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/1/170

The intervertebral disc (IVD) is the largest avascular structure in the human body, and its nucleus pulposus (NP) cells predominantly generate large amounts of lactate through glycolysis, accompanied by an acidic microenvironment—features that represent characteristic metabolic traits of disc cell...

01/06/2026

Our Musculoskeletal Oncology Lab (MOL) ended the year strong by achieving some big milestones!

Starting off, the MOL was awarded a Community Resource Development Award from the DoD Rare Cancers Research Program - the largest award offered through this program. This support will significantly advance the MOL's work and collaborative efforts in rare cancer research.

Next up, they had a historic presence at the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) Annual Meeting in Mexico City. The lab delivered four podium presentations, presented by three medical students and one resident, marking a record achievement for our group. MOL Director Dr. Kurt Weiss also had the opportunity to serve as faculty and speaker at the first-ever MSTS grant writing workshop and to moderate the basic science section of the meeting.

Finally, we are excited to announce that the Musculoskeletal Oncology Lab will be relocating to the BST at the end of January - joining us in our newly renovated space.

Congratulations to our MOL team and we are excited to see what 2026 brings!

12/17/2025

We’re excited to share a breakthrough in musculoskeletal injury prevention from our BMRC Core Lab researchers in our MechanoBiology Laboratory.

Our MBL lab, directed by Dr. James H-C. Wang, has demonstrated that a topically applied metformin lotion can prevent the onset of tendinopathy in a mechanically overloaded mouse model. This reveals a promising, non-invasive strategy to reduce overuse tendon injuries that commonly affect athletes, workers, and military personnel.

Because metformin is already FDA-approved for other uses, this innovative approach has strong potential for rapid translation toward human studies and real-world application.

Read more about this promising research and its implications:
https://mtec-sc.org/technology-showcase/topical-metformin-lotion-for-tendinopathy-prevention



Department of Orthopaedics - University of Pitt
University of Pittsburgh

12/09/2025

These -80C freezers are incredibly important to the work our labs do day-in and day- out as they hold samples, cells and in-progress experiments.

We thank Maroadi Transfer & Storage Inc., Relocation Specialists for their care and diligence in moving these pieces of vital equipment across Pittsburgh to our new home. They are quite heavy and are challenging to move safely!