Painful Joints That Heal Themselves? It Could Happen – Sooner Than You Think

This episode features a discussion about osteoarthritis, a painful degenerative disease that affects 32.5 million Americans. With no existing effective regenerative therapy, treatments are limited to anti-inflammatory injections and, ultimately, expensive joint replacement surgery. Our guest is Karin Payne, PhD, associate professor of orthopedics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She talks about an ambitious project that received an award of up to $39 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and its aim to end osteoarthritis. The Colorado-based multidisciplinary team is on the forefront of developing a minimally invasive therapy that regenerates cartilage and bone cells – essentially allowing a joint to heal itself.