[MTE Roster]

The Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Study Section [MTE] reviews grant applications for tissue engineering and related implant and other regenerative system and device development projects that focus on the replacement or repair of damaged, missing or poorly functioning musculoskeletal tissues, including bone, skeletal muscle, cartilage, tendon and ligament.  MTE may also lend its expertise to the review of applications on skin tissue engineering.  A central theme of applications reviewed by MTE is translational research at the interface between basic cellular processes, materials sciences and modeling on the one hand, and clinical treatment on the other, with an emphasis on pre-clinical biological questions.

Specific areas covered by MTE:

• Extracellular matrix, cells and mechanical and molecular signals with respect to:
• Biomaterials; natural, synthetic and biomimetic scaffolds and delivery agents for repair of musculoskeletal tissue.
• Expansion and differentiation of progenitor cells, including stem cells, for musculoskeletal tissue engineering.
• Three dimensional mechanotransduction and chemical signaling for musculoskeletal tissue engineering. 
• Bioreactors and biosensors for musculoskeletal tissue engineering.
• Cell, tissue and body biomechanics and mathematical modeling with respect to musculoskeletal system tissues.
• Mechanical, electrical and biomedical engineering with respect to the repair or replacement of the musculoskeletal tissue systems.

MTE has the following shared interests within the MOSS IRG:

• Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Sciences [ODCS]: Applications involving existing dental restorative and prosthetic materials or their derivatives, particularly in a clinical setting, are more likely to be assigned to ODCS, while applications involving pre-clinical studies of tissue integration and engineering of new materials or processes could be assigned to MTE.
  
  
• Skeletal Biology Development and Diseases [SBDD]: If an application is focused upon craniofacial or other skeletal developmental biology, then assignment to SBDD may be appropriate; if the focus is on biomimetics and tissue engineering as it pertains to craniofacial restoration and repair, or if the focus is on the entire musculoskeletal system, then assignment to MTE may be appropriate.  Studies of biomineralization of bone, dentin, cartilage and other tissues may be consolidated in SBDD.
  
  
• Skeletal Biology Structure and Regeneration [SBSR]: If an application involving tissue and cell biomechanics and finite element modeling of bone and musculoskeletal soft tissue is directed toward mechanism of development and repair, then assignment to SBSR may be appropriate; if the thrust is toward tissue engineering and bioreactors, then assignment to MTE may be appropriate. If an application involving development and testing of orthopedic implant materials is directed toward clinical orthopedics, then assignment to SBSR may be appropriate; if directed toward in vitro and in vivo bone and cartilage tissue engineering, then assignment to MTE may be appropriate.
  
  
• Skeletal Muscle Biology and Exercise Physiology [SMEP]:  Therapeutic interventions as they relate to skeletal muscle function, injuries and diseases of muscle may be assigned to SMEP.  Similarly, molecular and cellular mechanisms of skeletal muscle growth, injury, repair, degeneration, and regeneration and normal and abnormal neural control of muscle fiber type and molecular phenotype are appropriate for SMEP. If the application addresses tissue engineering and related device design for the replacement or repair of damaged, missing or poorly functioning muscle or skeletal tissue, including devices that may replace or assist the peripheral control of muscle [e.g., electromyography], then MTE may be appropriate.
  
  
• Musculoskeletal and Rehabilitation Sciences [MRS]: If an application focused on rehabilitation is therapeutically oriented and involves physiology, prosthetics and orthotics, robotics, or physical therapy, then assignment to MRS may be appropriate; if musculoskeletal tissue engineering for the purpose of replacement or repair is the main issue, then assignment to MTE may be appropriate.
  Arthritis, Connective Tissue and Skin [ACTS]: Tissue engineering studies of skin, cartilage and connective tissue, including the development of artificial skin, cartilage and connective tissue may be assigned to MTE, whereas the physiology and pathology of regulation of skin, joint, connective tissue regeneration and repair would be more appropriate for ACTS.

MTE has the following shared interests outside the MOSS IRG:    

• With the Biological Chemistry and Macromolecular Biophysics [BCMB] IRG: There is shared interest with MTE in the areas of biomaterials.  Applications focusing on chemical synthesis aspects of these topics could be assigned to BCMB.  Applications focusing on dental and orthopedic implants or tissue integration could be assigned to MTE.
  
  
• With the Cell Biology [CB] IRG:  Studies designed to address general principles of protein or membrane structure, extracellular matrix or cell function, and that use musculoskeletal, oral, or skin elements primarily as a convenient source of material, may be considered under the CB IRG.  In general, studies of musculoskeletal, oral and skin in the context of tissue engineering would be assigned to the MTE study section.
  
  
• With the Biology of Development and Aging [BDA] IRG:  There is shared interest with the BDA IRG with respect to cell expansion and differentiation.  If the purpose of the application is early [pre-primordial] developmental biology, then BDA may be appropriate.  If musculoskeletal and connective tissue repair or replacement is the subject, then MTE may be appropriate.   Applications focused on stem cell biology with regard to totipotency and cell commitment may be assigned to BDA.  The application of stem cell technology in connective, neuromuscular, or musculoskeletal tissue and organ reparative medicine may be referred to MTE.
  
  
• With the Bioengineering Sciences and Technologies [BST] IRG: Grant applications on dental and orthopedic implants or tissue integration could be assigned to MTE, whereas grant applications on basic research and development of materials and surfaces that might be used for such implants could be assigned to BST.
  
  
• With the Cardiovascular Sciences [CVS] IRG: There is shared interest with the CVS IRG with respect to vascular assembly and repair.  If the intent of the application is the development, pathology and gene therapy of the vascular system or general vascular tissue engineering, then assignment to CVS may be appropriate, if the focus is vascular assembly specifically for bone and connective tissue engineering, then MTE may be appropriate.
  
  
• With the Surgical Sciences, Biomedical Imaging, and Bioengineering [SBIB] and the Bioengineering Sciences and Technologies [BST] IRGs: Studies examining tissue engineering and biomaterials specific to the musculoskeletal, oral and skin systems could be assigned to MTE.  Studies designed to address more general principles of biomaterial design and development and non-musculoskeletal aspects of tissue engineering and biomechanics may be considered under the auspices of the BST IRG or the SBIB IRG. 
  
  
• With the Integrative, Functional, and Cognitive Neuroscience [IFCN] IRG and the Biobehavioral and Behavioral Processes [BBBP] IRGs: There is shared interest with IFCN and BBBP with respect to motor systems and sensorimotor integration.  If the application addresses neural control of normal biological motor function, then IFCN may be appropriate.  Behavioral aspects of motor control, movement disorders and sensorimotor integration might be assigned to BBBP. If the application addresses device design and engineering for the replacement or repair of damaged, missing or poorly functioning muscle or skeletal tissue, including devices that may replace or assist the peripheral control of muscle [e.g., electromyography], then MTE may be appropriate.
  
  
• With the Brain Disorders and Clinical Neuroscience [BDCN] IRG: There is shared interest with the BDCN IRG with respect to rehabilitation as a result of brain or spinal cord injury or disease.  The BDCN IRG has particular expertise in the neural basis of rehabilitation and recovery.  As a consequence, studies related to rehabilitation of individuals with neural diseases that have an emphasis on the neural process may be assigned to the BDCN IRG.  If the application addresses neural control and integration in central and peripheral nervous system disorders, then assignment to BDCN may be appropriate.  If the application addresses device design or tissue engineering for the replacement or repair of damaged, missing or poorly functioning muscle or skeletal tissue, including devices that may replace or assist the peripheral control of muscle [e.g., electromyography], then MTE may be appropriate.