# Tissue Engineering Approaches for Improved Treatment of Early Stage Osteonecrosis of the Hip

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $417,842

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a potentially debilitating disease that is increasing in incidence
worldwide. In the United States alone, approximately 20,000 cases of ONFH are diagnosed each year. Up to
18% of total hip replacements (THR) performed in the USA are a result of ONFH. In the early stages of ONFH,
various hip joint preserving medical and surgical treatments have been tried with limited success. This is due to
the fact that maintenance of the patient's own femoral head requires both mechanical and biological strategies
to withstand intermittent loading and, at the same time, reconstitute the necrotic femoral head segment. Our
long-term goal is to improve the treatment of ONFH using a tissue engineering approach. Our overall
hypothesis is that the combination of a biomimetic functionally-graded scaffold (FGS), and preconditioned or
genetically modified (GM) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with anti-inflammatory, osteogenic and vascular
promoting signals will provide enhanced mechanical and biological cues to reconstitute the osteonecrotic
segment in ONFH. To test these hypotheses, our established team with expertise in orthopaedic surgery,
biomaterials, and tissue engineering proposes the following Specific Aims: Aim 1 is to establish the efficacy of
FGS for reconstitution of the femoral head in steroid-induced ONFH. Aim 2 is to establish superior efficacy of
enhanced, preconditioned or GM MSCs, compared to unmodified MSCs for reconstitution of bone in the
femoral head in steroid-induced ONFH. Aim 3 is to confirm that the combination of the FGS and enhanced
MSCs optimizes the mechanical and biological properties in ONFH to a greater degree than either treatment or
core decompression alone. This directly translational project will revolutionize and significantly improve the
treatment of ONFH by introducing two novel adjunctive therapies consisting of a biomimetic resorbable load-
bearing implant together with preconditioned or GM MSCs for femoral head reconstitution and preservation.
1"
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10150827
- **Project number:** 5R01AR072613-04
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** STUART B GOODMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $417,842
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-05 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10150827

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10150827, Tissue Engineering Approaches for Improved Treatment of Early Stage Osteonecrosis of the Hip (5R01AR072613-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10150827. Licensed CC0.

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