The Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center of UAMS was established in 1994, with the recruitment of authorities in the field from around the world. Within a very short period of time, it became an internationally renowned center of excellence and a premier facility for research in osteoporosis and other metabolic bone diseases, as well as a patient referral center for treatment of these conditions.
The primary objective of the research undertaken by the center’s interdisciplinary faculty has been the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind the development of osteoporosis and other diseases of the bone in women after menopause and women and men with old age, as well as in patients developing osteoporosis as a side-effect of therapy with steroids. Using such an understanding, the investigators of the center are developing more effective therapies for treatment of this common metabolic bone disease.
The Center’s faculty has the combined research experience of almost 200 years, has a collective record of more than 1,200 publications, and it represents a highly synergistic team with complimentary expertise in molecular and cellular biology, molecular genetics, the biology of bone as a tissue, and the clinical diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis. Since its establishment in 1994, the Center has brought to UAMS over $83 million in extramural research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Administration, and the pharmaceutical industry.
Notably, the osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases center alone has served as an incubator for the development of a total of nine new, homegrown, independent principle investigators who were awarded at least one NIH R01 grant and/or new VA Merit award. Moreover, research in the osteoporosis center resulted in the first NASDAQ listed biotechnology company founded by UAMS faculty.