Medicine Grand Rounds – Richard Loeser, MD – “Osteoarthritis: Are We Any Closer to Disease Modification?”

Dr. Richard F. Loeser is the Herman and Louise Smith Distinguished Professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology and the Director of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Dr. Loeser received his medical degree from the West Virginia University School of Medicine and completed residency and fellowship training in Internal Medicine, Rheumatology, and Geriatrics at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Loeser’s lab uses a combination of in vitro experiments using human joint tissue cells and in vivo experiments in rodent models to study cell signaling pathways that regulate anabolic and catabolic activity responsible for joint tissue remodeling and destruction. The lab is particularly interested in determining how reactive oxygen species regulate chondrocyte signaling and how oxidative stress that occurs with aging and joint injury can alter the activity of these signaling pathways. Most recently he has also been examining the contribution of the gut microbiota to the development of osteoarthritis in humans and mouse models. He has worked in the area of clinical trials of exercise and weight loss interventions for adults with osteoarthritis of the knee including studies of biomarkers analysis samples from these studies. Dr. Loeser has published over 160 research articles, reviews, chapters and editorials on osteoarthritis and serves as co-editor of the journal Arthritis and Rheumatology. He has received the Osteoarthritis Research Society International Award for Basic Research in Osteoarthritis and a MERIT award from the NIH for his research project “Integrin Function in Cartilage”.