Dr. Dianne Little
Areas of Research
Tendinopathy, Rotator Cuff Tissue Engineering, Multiomics, Osteoarthritis of the Shoulder, Interactions of Osteoarthritis and Adult Stem Cells with Systemic Factors.
Projects
The vision of the Multidisciplinary Orthopaedic Regenerative Engineering (MORE) Laboratory, led by Dr. Dianne Little, is ‘Innovative Regenerative Engineering to Improve Quality of Life for Orthopaedic Patients from all Walks of Life.’
The MORE Lab seeks to develop regenerative biomaterials for rotator cuff tendon tissue engineering and to improve understanding of both tendinopathy and engineered tendon development using integrated multiomic platforms. Together with clinical collaborators, we are identifying disease phenotypes in primary shoulder osteoarthritis, and are working to understand the role of the shoulder joint capsule in development of primary shoulder arthritis. In order to ensure our work is applicable to as many patients as possible, we are working to understand the interactions of intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as diet, age, environmental stress and military relevant stressors such as mandatory vs voluntary exercise, and post-traumatic stress disorder with the progression and phenotype of orthopaedic diseases, including osteoarthritis. The MORE Lab is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense.
Techniques and methods used include in vitro and animal models, neurobehavioral testing, a variety of imaging methods, biomaterials evaluation, various sequencing and mass spectrometry platforms, bioinformatics, mechanical testing and incorporation of bioreactor studies.
Dr Little is an active member of the Orthopaedic Research Society, and MORE Lab graduate students have been successful with F31 applications, and have ample opportunities to travel to biomedical engineering and orthopaedic national meetings. The MORE Lab collaborates with Rush University, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and North Carolina State University on various projects.
Recruitment Needs
Creative self-starters interested in group science to enroll as PhD students in Fall 2022 to work on osteoarthritis projects.
Feel free to contact Dr. Little directly.