Department of Defense awards $749,220 for research into improved muscle regeneration
Michael McClure, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, received a $749,220 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study muscle regeneration treatments for volumetric muscle loss injuries.
The three-year grant will support McClure’s research on enhancing muscle regeneration and innervation in volumetric muscle loss, a condition that severely affects motor function. The project aims to improve outcomes for military personnel who have sustained battlefield injuries resulting in significant muscle loss. These injuries — often caused by gunshot wounds, blasts, car accidents or tumor resection — can lead to functional deficits that make even the most basic tasks, like walking, extremely difficult.
“This funding allows us to advance a promising approach that combines tissue engineering with rehabilitation techniques to help patients regain muscle function after devastating injuries,” McClure said. “Our decellularized muscle allograft technology has shown great potential, and now we can explore how it works with neurotization and electrical stimulation to create a more comprehensive treatment strategy for volumetric muscle loss.”
McClure’s lab developed a decellularized muscle allograft material that promotes regeneration without the need for autologous cells, potentially accelerating its clinical translation. The team will combine this allograft with neurotization and transcutaneous electrical stimulation to promote muscle healing and reinnervation — a method known as regenerative rehabilitation.
Project collaborators include Jonathan Isaacs, M.D., and Geetanjali Bendale, M.D., from the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and D. Joshua Cohen, M.D., research assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The grant will fund a Ph.D. student and generate preliminary data to support future applications to the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health, expanding research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.
Focusing on skeletal muscle disorders that disrupt normal function, McClure’s research harnesses the regenerative aspects of the extracellular matrix for new myofiber development. His work examines the role of the extracellular matrix in regulating muscle healing after volumetric muscle loss injury, muscle-nerve interactions and the impact of aging on muscle regeneration and innervation.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering provides undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to perform real-world research as soon as they enroll. From delving into the intricacies of cell migration in cancer research to exploring tissue engineering in menisci, tendons and ligaments, our students pursue a diverse range of cutting-edge research topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Biomedical Engineering to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.
Categories Biomedical Engineering, Faculty Awards, Research Grants