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Congratulation to Iris Boraschi and Juliana Marulanda for receiving the Network for Oral and Bone Health Research (R茅seau de Recherche en Sant茅 Buccodentaire et Osseuse, RSBO) student scholarship award! The scholarship is valued at $15,000 is awarded to students who submit a project consistent with the Network's and supervised by a regular member of the Network.
Iris Boraschi is supervised by Dr. Svetlana Komarova and was awarded the scholarship for her project 鈥淩egulation of osteoclasts by the collagen type 1 and its degradation products鈥�. Collagen type I is one of the most abundant proteins in the human body, and is the main protein of the extracellular matrix of bone. Osteoclast are the bone resorbing cells which destroy the bone matrix. In some chronic bone disease caused by mutations in collagen, abnormal bone loss can be seen. Genetically, osteoclasts don鈥檛 produce collagen and shouldn鈥檛 be affected by it therefore the goal of this project is to understand the biology of this physiological finding. Her approach is based on a very new and attractive area of research called 鈥渙steoimmunology鈥� in which it鈥檚 believe that the bone environment is an extension of the circulatory system and therefore part of the immune system. Through her research she expects that this project may lead to the development of novel inhibitors of osteoclast function, and these inhibitors may be useful for treatment of diseases associated with excessive bone loss.
Juliana Marulanda is supervised by Dr. Monzur Murshed and was awarded the scholarship for her project 鈥淩ole of Matrix Gla Protein in midface development鈥�. Abnormal facial development is a common birth defect. In her research, she is studying Matrix Gla Protein to examine how its deficiency may alter the properties of the growth centres in the developing craniofacial tissues. Her approach uses a mouse model of Human Keutel Syndrome, which consists of impaired midface development.