Project Summary The 2nd leading cause of disability worldwide is musculoskeletal disease, including back pain, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Musuloskeletal conditions disproportionately affect women and non-white people, a problem exacerbated by the fact that orthopedics is the least diverse clinical and biomedical research specialty. Musculoskeletal science represents an ideal multi-disciplinary scientific field to train students across the spectrum of transcriptomics, cellular biology, inter-organ cross talk, and translational research. Critical gaps in the current system are the fact that there is a lack of underrepresented trainees with the expertise to achieve NIH funding in orthopedic surgery, and a similar lack of clear mentorship and guidance for surgeon scientists to train the next generation of scientists that can ameliorate the burden of musculoskeletal disease on our aging population. While many surgeon scientists seek to train underrepresented applicants, most lack the framework and training necessary for the effective mentorship of underrepresented students in the fields of biomedical research, musculoskeletal disease, and orthopedic surgery. Bridging these gaps is a necessary and achievable goal to promote a diverse and equitable scientific community focused in improving the outcomes of orthopedic and musculoskeletal degenerative processes. This proposal will seek to bridge two critical gaps in our ability to train underrepresented people in the field of musculoskeletal biomedical research. In Aim 1, we will continue the immersive training of Steven Garcia towards a K08 award, providing him the necessary bridge towards independent funding. This will be achieved by allowing him to continue his post-doctoral work on the transcriptomic profiling of FAPs in muscle injury states as well as develop new insights leveraging spatial transcriptomic analysis of FAP gene expression. In Aim 2, we will enhance the mentorship program provided by the Feeley- Liu lab by providing mentorship training for Dr. Feeley through the well-established UCSF Diversity Mentorship program. Additionally, current and future underrepresented students will be given specific time within the laboratory training to learn advanced skills necessary (e.g. transcriptomic analysis, metabolic assays of mitochondrial function, advanced statistical analytics), as well as exposure to clinical orthopedic surgery to understand the translational potential of the current bench research.