Lara Longobardi, PhD, associate professor of medicine in the Division on Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, recently received funding through the National Institute of Health (NIH); National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) for the renewal of her R01.

The project, “Role of CCR2 in osteoarthritis”, will establish the molecular events leading to the multi tissue OA degeneration and macrophage activation induced by CCR2 and how they correlate to pain and muscle damage; in addition, the study will test two novel and efficient drug delivery systems to target tissues, local and systemic, avoiding extended high-dose exposure while protecting it from degradation.