# RR&D Research Career Scientist Award Application

> **NIH VA IK6** · PHILADELPHIA VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · —

## Abstract

Abstract
Robert L. Mauck, PhD is a Research Health Scientist and Co-Director of the Translational
Musculoskeletal Research Center at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in
Philadelphia. He is also the Mary Black Ralston Professor of Education and Research in Orthopaedic
Surgery and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Director of the
McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory. At Penn, Dr. Mauck also serves as the Co-Director of the
Program in Musculoskeletal Regeneration in the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IRM), is the
Director of the Biomechanics Core of the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders (PCMD), and is
a founding member of the Center for Engineering Mechanobiology (CEMB).
Dr. Mauck’s research program is focused on the engineering and mechanobiology of musculoskeletal
tissues, with a particular interest in restoring articular cartilage, the knee meniscus, and the
intervertebral disc. Dr. Mauck’s team uses mechanical and molecular analyses to explore native
tissue structure function relationships, and employs this information to enhance the functional
properties of engineered constructs through focused technology development. His work explores
progenitor cell function and efficacy in a variety of biomaterial contexts and across multiple length
scales, from subcellular biophysical properties to translation of engineered constructs in large animal
models and humans. The goal of his research program is to develop and deploy novel regenerative
therapies to improve musculoskeletal health in Veterans and the population as a whole.
Dr. Mauck is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, the
National Science Foundation, and several foundations and private organizations. He is an active
member of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Orthopaedic Research
Society (ORS), the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS),
the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS).
Dr. Mauck is the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research Spine and serves on the
editorial board of the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of
Biomedical Materials, and the Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics. He has published >190
manuscripts (cited >10400 times), >300 abstracts, and >12 book chapters.
Dr. Mauck has been recognized for his contributions to the field with the ISSLS Prize in Biomechanics
(2008), the YC Fung Young Investigator Award from the ASME (2009), the BMES-CMBE ‘Rising Star’
Award (2011), the Penn Medicine Montague Research Prize (2013), election to the College of
Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2014), the Kappa Delta
Young Investigator Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (2015), the Berton
Rahn Research Award from the AO Foundation (2017), and was inducte...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9949902
- **Project number:** 1IK6RX003416-01
- **Recipient organization:** PHILADELPHIA VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert L Mauck
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-01-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9949902

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9949902, RR&D Research Career Scientist Award Application (1IK6RX003416-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9949902. Licensed CC0.

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